Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors
by Jaenera Targaryen
Summary: Several years ago, Tokiomi Tohsaka refused the offered hand of one woman for another, and earning him the wrath the likes of which hell hath none. And now, that wrath falls on him.
1. Pilot Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Pilot Chapter

It was going to be one of those days. She just didn't know it yet.

The Scrap wasn't crowded today, and Adelheid von Falkenhayn was able to sit back and relax in her usual place, enjoying her whiskey while listening to the jazz music playing from the jukebox in one corner. What people there were quietly chatted and joked and laughed amongst themselves, sitting in other booths or at the counter, while a couple played pool at one of several billiard tables. Others sat in silence, nursing their alcohol while enjoying some respite to their busy lives.

Adelheid was among those who fell in the last category, and she sat alone in her booth, with a bottle of Scotch, a small bucket of ice, and a glass at hand. She slouched in her seat, legs stretched out under the table, and one arm folded behind her head.

She stared up at the ceiling, and at one of the tacky glow-globes that lit up the bar, if in a smoky fashion, though that was also due just as much to all the smoke that usually filled up the place. Adelheid herself smoked, though not now.

Ice tinkled against glass as the former melted and fell against each other and the latter, and reaching forward Adelheid took her glass and swallowed a bitter mouthful. Placing the glass back down on its coaster, the blonde woman sat back against the upholstery, eyes running over the crowd. It was the usual crowd, like Big Janny over at the counter, and Bellow and his three wingmen going through a porn magazine in another booth, Matilda and Helm snoozing at another booth with Joanna keeping watch (while reading one of her romance novels)…oh, and there was Tyrone the Imp flirting with a coy waitress…

"Captain!" a familiar voice said loudly, cutting through the smoky air, and drawing the bar's attention. They turned away back to their usual business as they saw it was just Hilda quickly walking over to Adelheid's booth, a familiar sight and nothing really to worry about.

"Hey, Hilda," Adelheid said, sitting up and holding up her glass. "Care to join me for a drink? If you don't want to share a glass, we can ask Rock over at the counter for a fresh one."

"What are you saying?" Hilda said, scandalized. "We've got work to do, work!"

"Hmm," Adelheid hummed while emptying her glass, and noting her subordinate's attire. The other woman had donned a flak vest, and while she was only carrying a sidearm, she clearly was dressed for business. "Alright, who's the client this time? Someone new? Or is it someone we worked for before?"

"The latter," Hilda replied. "Lady Schnee."

"Schnee again?" Adelheid echoed before sighing. "I hate working for that woman…damn it, still, work is work, we have to pay the bills somehow. Alright…Eckhart, Moritz! We have work to do!"

"Right, cap!" one of her two men shouted from the counter, and finishing their drinks rushed over.

"Put it on my tab, Jerry." Adelheid said as she walked towards the exit.

"Sure, sure," Jerry said, briefly looking up from his newspaper behind the counter. "Just make sure you pay by Christmas."

"Hey! You know I always do! And with a bonus too!"

"Just a friendly reminder." The bookish-looking bartender said, already returning to his newspaper and prompting Adelheid to mutter to herself while heading for the door.

* * *

Lady Schnee – which probably wasn't even her real name – sat on one side of the limo's passenger compartment, the platinum-blonde woman wearing a dress of blue that started with a midnight shade at the collar and paling down to a pale shade at her knees. A white sash was tied around her waist, and a white choker with a diamond centerpiece was fastened around her neck. One hand held a folding fan, also of blue that gradually lightened in shade further down the ribs, and trimmed in white.

In contrast, Adelheid was dressed for business, wearing a dark blue, sleeveless shirt over dark green combat trousers and dark-colored combat boots. Her flak vest was also colored a dark green, though in deference to her client, Adelheid didn't bring any weapons (or at least not obvious ones) with her to this meeting.

"I trust you've been well, von Falkenhayn?" Lady Schnee said as the limo's door was closed.

"I am." Adelheid replied, and Lady Schnee's lips twitched with amusement.

"Drink?" she offered.

"I'd be honored."

Reaching into a compartment beside her, Lady Schnee brought out two glasses, put ice in both, and poured bourbon into them. Nudging one glass at Adelheid, she picked up the glass and held it up to Lady Schnee. "To your health, my lady." Adelheid said.

Lady Schnee nodded, and returned the toast. "And to yours." She said, the two women emptying their glasses before putting them down on the table.

"Now then," Lady Schnee continued while refilling their glasses. "Shall we proceed to business?"

"Of course."

Lady Schnee nodded. "I have someone I need you to…terminate. Permanently," she said with narrowed eyes.

"The usual fee?"

"Of course," Lady Schnee said with another nod. "Something for something after all."

Adelheid nodded, and took a sip of her drink as Lady Schnee placed a folder on the table and slid it over to Adelheid. Placing her glass down, Adelheid took the folder and opened it, her eyes widening on the first page. "This is…!" she gasped.

"An Average One is wasted on that man and his family." Lady Schnee said with a magnificent sneer. "And while abduction is an option, and one that offers potential for considerably greater satisfaction in the future, it hardly seems worth the effort at present to invest in…properly, developing the situation that might develop from such an action. Kill the brat."

Lady Schnee paused, and narrowed her eyes again. "Or will it be a problem?" she asked.

Adelheid met Lady Schnee's eyes. "No," she said. "It won't be a problem. I've done worse, just…surprised."

"Oh?"

"I've never done a hit on a single kid before, though I guess there's a first time for everything."

Lady Schnee smiled with amusement. "Then allow me to give you a bonus," she said. "Just to…celebrate, the occasion."

Adelheid briefly frowned, and then shrugged. "It's just a job." She said. "Nothing to really celebrate."

"Is that so?"

"I apologize if I caused offense…"

Lady Schnee held up a hand. "No," she interrupted. "You did not. Still, I've made the offer, you rejected it, so I will modify it instead. Mark the brat's father, and I'll provide a twenty per cent bonus."

"Hmm…" Adelheid hummed, considering the offer for several moments before nodding once. "Very well, I accept. Any particular specifics you might request, my lady? To marking the girl's father, that is?"

"Don't kill or cripple him." Lady Schnee said. "The former is a mercy he does not deserve. The latter…it has its satisfactions, but having him…retain, most of his ability along with his life is crueler and more satisfying. For all his power and achievement, in the end it was for nothing, as he could not protect his greatest treasure. But be sure to leave him with a scar that cannot be removed, or at least not for a long while yet."

"I believe I can manage something of the sort."

Lady Schnee smiled with cold satisfaction. "And what of the spare?" Adelheid asked, after going through the file's contents.

"Spare the spare." Lady Schnee said with a dismissive gesture. "Her Sorcery Trait is valuable, but not nearly as much as an Average One would have been. And letting her live would yet be another example to that fool of his failure. And besides,"

At that, Lady Schnee paused and smiled, sea-grey irises sparkling with malice. "I believe…yes," she said, nodding slowly. "The girl…letting her live offers future chances to further punish that man for his insults."

Lady Schnee laughed again, and Adelheid turned back to the file in her hands. Reading through the details, she nodded, and placing the file on the table took a mystic code from one of her vest's pockets, and signed the geis scroll that was the back page. The skin on the back of her hand prickled as the mystic code cut into it, the blood magically flowing through the air in small, near-invisible particles, and were laid down onto the paper. They formed her signature, and binding her – and Lady Schnee – to the conditions laid out in the geis scroll.

Lady Schnee nodded, and smiling, raised her glass in response to Adelheid doing likewise after signing the geis scroll. "To success," she said.

"To success," Lady Schnee echoed before her smile widened. "And to revenge."

* * *

The Company, as they called themselves, stood around a table in their 'base camp', located in Rosenheim in Southern Germany. A former firehouse, the building had been set to be condemned when Adelheid had purchased it decades ago, had it renovated, and piled up bounded fields over and inside it.

The fields were constantly updated, and new ones added every so often, and turning the building into a fortress. The ground floor was largely occupied by the garage, along with the front office for Adelheid's front business (stock trading). The second floor housed the residential areas, where she lived with her niece, Hildegarde 'Hilda' von Falkenhayn, along with guest rooms for the rest of the Company, should they stay over.

The third floor was Adelheid's workshop and repository. The Company was rarely if ever allowed in there, except for Hilda.

The 'base camp' itself was located in the underground, and was second only in protection to the workshop. It housed their armories for one thing, and also held prison cells and an interrogation room with all the necessary tools and equipment for 'enhanced interrogation techniques', for both mundane and supernatural subjects alike.

Walther Henninger raised an eyebrow as he saw their next job's profile. "So we're killing kids these days?" he asked.

"What's the problem?" Hilda asked with a roll of her eyes. "We burned down that village in Chad about six years ago, and shot everyone who tried to run. Including women and _children_."

Walther tightened his jaw, but said nothing. Adelheid gave a cough. "In any case," she said. "None of you will be shooting the kid. I will be. Hilda, I'll need Big Hans."

Hilda smiled. "Understood, captain." She said, and Adelheid nodded.

"So what do the rest of us do?" Eckhart Steinheil asked. "From the look of things, this is an assassination job, and that you'll be the one to pull it off, won't you?'

"Quite," Adelheid said with a nod. "Big Hans should be enough to do the job, it's just a kid after all. A magus _might_ be able to survive anything less than a headshot from Big Hans, but a six-year old girl? Ha! Not a chance. However, I'll need you to provide support for this operation."

Eckhart nodded. "Got it captain," he said. "What do you need us to do?"

"For now, we need to prepare an equipment, but that's Hilda's job." Adelheid said with a nod. "Walther, you'll prepare travel documents and all other bureaucratic requirements. Eckhart, Moritz, you two will work on a plan to covertly identify a pattern to the target and her family's activities over the next three or four months, and identify the best time to conduct the operation. In the meantime, I'll arrange for transportation and accommodation, as well as prepare additional resources. Understood?"

"Yes, captain!" the team chorused.

"Then let's get to it."

* * *

Within a week, the Company had arrived in Fuyuki City, on the island of Kyushu in Southern Japan. Holing up at a warehouse complex along the waterfront, they proceeded to conduct a surveillance campaign over the next three months as per their predetermined plan.

Commercially-available drones fitted with cameras were used to confirm and provide additional reference materials to 'official' materials such as maps and records, while members of the Company, either in pairs or in threes, went out to provide ground intelligence. Disguised as tourists, or as delivery boys, even as technical personnel from one company or another or even from the city government, and making good use of wax masks, contact lenses, wigs and fake beards to avoid presenting any faces that could become familiar, they built up information to determine the daily pattern of their target.

And then, during the third month, just as Adelheid was about to make her decision to finally take action, an unexpected development occurred. And it was one that had the German mercenary cum spell-caster making a call to her client in Britain.

"What is it?" Lady Schnee asked over the satellite link, heavily-encoded and masked to prevent tracking. The aristocrat's voice was impatient, possibly due to being interrupted doing something important or pleasurable, or at personally being made to use an item of modern technology. Or indeed, all three.

"Something unexpected has turned up." Adelheid said.

"You're not about to disappoint me, are you, von Falkenhayn?" Lady Schnee asked with just the barest hint of a threat in her ice-cold voice.

"Not at all," Adelheid said. "However, it seems that Mister Tohsaka is planning to give his younger daughter away for adoption to the Matou family."

There was utter silence over the satellite link for several moments. Only the status screen on the satellite phone's other components told Adelheid that the line had not been cut, or had failed. Finally, there was a sigh of utter disappointment and exasperation from Lady Schnee.

"Honestly," she said filled with suppressed rage. "You think the man wouldn't sink any lower, and he does this!"

Adelheid stayed silent as the aristocrat raged. "…but it is still quite valuable," Lady Schnee spat. "And he would give it to those wretched Matous? Traditional allies or not, I would think that he'd do better, if he were to give away his spare, than a family that has clearly spent itself, and is no longer worthy to be considered as one honored with the title and calling of magi!"

Adelheid continued to stay silent as Lady Schnee ranted for several more moments, and then…

"Von Falkenhayn!"

"Yes, my lady?"

"Do not allow Matou to take the girl!" Lady Schnee spat. "She is wasted on them! One of Ede…one as valuable as her, is not to be wasted on that wretched and rotten-through lineage! And Russians of all people! _Helvetin Sl_ …!"

Adelheid blinked as Lady Schnee cut herself off before she finished the second word, but she recognized that language. It was _Finnish_.

 _Well, well, well…isn't that interesting?_

"Von Falkenhayn," Lady Schnee ground out. "Did I make myself clear?"

"Understood, my lady." Adelheid said. "I will adjust my plans, and my objectives: kill Rin Tohsaka, mark Tokiomi Tohsaka, and deny Sakura Tohsaka to the Matou family."

"Then make it happen, von Falkenhayn." Lady Schnee ground out, and then cut the line.

"As you wish, my lady." Adelheid said, before lowering the satellite phone. "Well, that's that. Now, Hilda! We need to adjust our plans. The client wants…"

* * *

"There they go."

Adelheid and Hilda were lying prone on top of a water tower, a thick layer of cloth between them and the hot metal of the water tank. Both women were dressed for business, with pistols holstered at their waists and grenades strapped to their flak jackets. Submachine guns were lying within easy reach, and before Adelheid was the bulk of a M107 anti-material rifle, though right now both women were peering through binoculars at their target.

And as they watched, a white van with the logo of a local flower shop drove up the neighborhood, and drawing the attention of several black-suited and sunglasses-wearing men standing around the front of the Tohsaka mansion. And a priest.

 _Kotomine Kirei…to think that someone like Tohsaka Tokiomi had a man like that, a priest of all things, as his apprentice._

 _Lady Schnee was quite pleased to hear that bit of information. No doubt she'd find some way to use it to her advantage._

As Adelheid and Hilda watched from the distance, the van drew up in front of a house across the street from the Tohsaka property. Eckhart and Moritz (dressed in the flower shop's uniforms) went out the van's front, and tipping their hats politely at the men looking at them from the Tohsaka property went to the back of the van.

Opening it, they rummaged inside for a few moments, and then coming out, with Eckhart carrying a lovingly-arranged bouquet of flowers, and Moritz carrying a clipboard. The priest and the suited men turned away, as the two disguised mercenaries cum assassins cum spell-casters closed the van's back doors, and stepped up the closest house's lawn and knocked on the front door.

After several moments, the lady of the house opened the front door, but while initially perplexed she didn't get to say any word that could draw attention and throw off the disguise before Moritz's mystic eyes briefly flashed. Suddenly, the lady of the house was all smiles, and accepting the flowers signed off on them.

Moritz and Eckhart now returned to the van, and boarding it once more lingered for a few moments seemingly doing inventory and recordkeeping before starting the van. They barely moved a couple of meters before the engine seemed to throw something, and spluttered to a halt.

Again, the priest and the suited men turned to the van, but turned away again as Eckhart tried to restart it a few times. He and Moritz then went out, and then opening the hood sprang back as smoke erupted. Arguing for a few moments, Eckhart waved him off before seemingly trying to work the engine, Moritz returning to the van's front seat and fishing out a phone seemed to call someone and converse urgently about the van's condition.

Hilda laughed at the sight. "Not bad acting, isn't it?" she said.

Adelheid hummed in response. They continued watching for several minutes, and then Adelheid stirred as the front door opened, allowing the Tohsaka family to exit. Missus Tohsaka stayed with her elder daughter near the door, while Tokiomi Tohsaka held his younger daughter's hand while escorting her towards one of the black cars parked in front of the property.

"Showtime." Adelheid said, dropping her binoculars and positioning herself behind the M107.

"Careful captain," Hilda said, settling into the role of a spotter. "Looks like Tohsaka's handing his daughter to one of those Matou thugs. It's going to be close."

Adelheid didn't bother to respond, instead focusing on steadying her breathing and grip, and centering her aim at Rin Tohsaka's center of mass. At this distance, wind speed and direction weren't the only factors to be considered, but the Coriolis Effect as well.

" _Sorry kid,_ " Adelheid said as she compensated and held her breath, before pulling the trigger. " _It's nothing personal. It's just business._ "

* * *

No one heard the shot that turned an already sad day into a complete nightmare.

But they all saw Rin's body fly apart in a shower of blood and gore, followed by Aoi's anguished screaming. For an instant it seemed as though time stood still, and then things went into high speed.

Another bullet flew through the air, and sent Tokiomi spinning to the ground with a shout of pain, blood and his right arm flying through the air. The black-suited men rushed to their vehicles, one of them lifting Sakura by her body despite her struggles to the car in the middle.

She and the man fell as a bullet tore through the latter's neck, and any of the others who tried to approach suffered a similar fate.

And then heads turned as the side of the van opened, exposing a man inside and manning a heavy rotary cannon. Kirei's eyes widened as he recognized it for what it was: a M61 20 mm automatic cannon. He dove for cover, moments before the cannon roared and tore through the remaining Matou guards in a glowing fusillade of high-explosive rounds, and sending blood and gore fountaining across the grounds.

Sakura screamed and curled up on the grounds, and then her screams were joined by that of metal and the hissing of hot gas and smoke escaping from perforated engines as the man behind the cannon swept it down the line of Matou vehicles. And unseen by Kirei, the man working on the van's engine closed the hood, rushed back into the vehicle and started it, while the man who'd previously held a phone pulled out the long bulk of a Panzerfaust.

Stepping clear of the van, he took aim, and pulled the trigger. The armor-piercing round slammed into the central vehicle, already shot through by cannon fire, and blew it sky high.

" _Lass uns von hier verschwinden!_ "

Kirei heard the shout, and looked up from where he'd shielded his master to see the white van – its side closed up again, speeding away. "S-S-Sakura…where is…Sakura…Rin…" Tokiomi babbled, clutching his arm's stump in agony, tears flowing in anguish as he looked in the direction of his home, and saw his wife distraught and crying uncontrollably on the ground, next to a small and still figure lying lifeless next to her.

Making the sign of the cross, Kirei hurried in silence to his master's only remaining child and heir, the little girl crying and curled up into a ball, splattered as she was by blood and surrounded by corpses. And as he picked her up and carried her protectively to her father, all Kirei could think of was…was…

…deep down…

…as he listened to the Tohsaka's grief and pain…

…deep down…

…he could only laugh.

* * *

'Lady Schnee' received the report from Adelheid von Falkenhayn in her suite at London. Dismissing all her servants and attendants, one of them carrying the satellite phone with her, the platinum-blonde woman was left alone.

Rising to her feet, she walked over to the liquor cabinet, and poured herself a glass of white wine. "My dear cousin," Valkolumi Edelfelt said softly as she walked over to the windows. "I wonder if you finally remember that ancient piece of wisdom, that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Pausing in front of the windows, Valkolumi stood in silence, thinking of the child killed by her command. "If only your father had been smart enough to not scorn my hand, child," she said softly. "Your family would not labor under the shadow of our scorn, and you would have feared for nothing. Even your sister, she would have gone to a worthier family than those wretched exiles from Russia. But alas…your father was a fool. He rejected the offered hand of friendship and peace from our family, all for that weakling whore of his. What a waste…"

Falling silent, Valkolumi swept out with her arm, and splattered the white wine against the windows, in tribute to the dead.

 _Rest in peace, you who could have been my daughter in another life._

* * *

It wasn't going to be one of those days. She just thought it would be.

The Scrap was crowded today, and Adelheid von Falkenhayn could barely hear the jazz music playing from the jukebox as she sat in her usual spot. People in various clothes, ranging from clean and crisp business attire to biker apparel of all things, stuffed the bar to the gills, and keeping Jerry busy over at the counter.

The booths were all occupied, as were all the seats at the counter. Men and women thronged around the billiard tables, while others gathered around the dartboards, placing bets and jeering and cheering and booing with every turn.

Adelheid stared up at the ceiling, at one of the tacky glow-globes that lit up the bar, if in a smoky fashion, though that was also due just as much to all the smoke that filled up the place. At the thought, Adelheid fished out a packet of cigarettes, placed one in her mouth, and lit it with a lighter.

Ice tinkled against glass as the former melted and fell against each other and the glass, and reaching forward Adelheid took her glass of scotch and swallowed a bitter mouthful. Placing the glass back down on its coaster, the blonde woman sat back against the upholstery, eyes running over the crowd. A loud roar drew her attention, and she watched as the Imp did a victory lap while all around him men argued over and exchanged money over a round of bets won and lost at a round of darts.

"Captain!" a familiar voice said loudly, cutting through the smoky air, and drawing the bar's attention. They turned away back to their usual business as they saw it was just Hilda quickly walking over to Adelheid's booth, a familiar sight and nothing really to worry about.

"Hey, Hilda," Adelheid said, sitting up and holding up her glass. "Care to join me for a drink? If you don't want to share a glass, we can ask Rock over at the counter for a fresh one. Or how about a smoke?"

"What are you saying?" Hilda said, scandalized. "We've got work to do, work!"

"Hmm," Adelheid hummed while emptying her glass, and noting her subordinate's attire. The other woman had donned a flak vest, and while she was only carrying a sidearm, she clearly was dressed for business. "Alright, who's the client this time? Someone new? Or is it someone we worked for before?"

"The former," Hilda replied. "Some mook who got shafted, from what I hear."

"Is that right?" Adelheid asked with a chuckle. "Well, time to get to work. Eckhart, Moritz!"

"But captain…!"

"We were just about to…!"

"No buts, it's work! And put it on my tab, Jerry." Adelheid said as she walked towards the exit, Hilda and two grumbling men trailing after her.

"Got it, Adelheid." Jerry said, briefly looking up from where he was mixing up some cocktails. "Good luck at work."

"Thanks, we really appreciate it!"

"No problem!" The bookish-looking bartender said, already returning to his cocktails as Adelheid and company left the Scrap.

* * *

A/N

An experiment the inspiration for which is I'm not sure but what the heck…I don't lose anything by writing it.

The title is Latin, and it means 'Gold, Blood, and Death'. There's a certain irony to it, especially since according to Apocrypha Edelfelt and Tohsaka are related, which adds a certain degree of horror to Valkolumi's murderous scheme to inflict pain on Tokiomi for refusing a past offer of marriage to her.

Yes, there's a reference to RWBY. Even more so, as 'Valkolumi' _is_ Snow White/Weiss Schnee in Finnish.

This story is a one-shot and will likely not see a sequel or additional chapters. Unless the mood grips me again.


	2. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Prologue

 _Summer, 1995_

Valkolumi Edelfelt sat in the back of her custom Mercedes, brooding on the catastrophe that had taken place the previous year. Given how the fourth Heaven's Feel ritual had failed, it had taken a whole year to piece together what had happened during the previous year, and more after that to pull herself together, and do what needed to be done.

And to think it had gone so well at first.

Her pawn had succeeded in 'seducing' Aoi Tohsaka, and both had been exposed to Tokiomi Tohsaka. Tokiomi had been suitably enraged, and nearly did kill Valkolumi's pawn and his by then-adulterous love.

Ultimately though, Tokiomi had shown that iron control that he'd always had, even as a boy, and spared their lives. He had allowed them to leave, albeit prohibiting Aoi from ever seeing their daughter ever again as punishment.

Valkolumi had heard that this caused the woman no small distress then and now, not that she particularly cared, of course. Everything had gone according to plan, with Tokiomi having been left with a hole in his heart, a cold and empty spot by his side…

…and with some more work, no doubt, Valkolumi could have stepped onto that spot, given him the warmth that he deserved, and filled that hole in his heart. It was her place, after all, her duty. It always had been, just as she had always loved him, and still did.

And so it should had been…if not for that man's betrayal.

A betrayal he would soon pay for, and by her own hand no less. It was not and should not be an honor that he deserved, but Tokiomi was not his to take. How dare that treacherous priest raise a hand against her beloved cousin? How dare he spit on the trust her love had extended to him? How dare he give Tokiomi a coward's death?

He would pay! He must!

"Lady Schnee," Adelheid von Falkenhayn said from the driver's side seat said. "The target has entered the zone of operations."

"Good," Valkolumi said. "Commence the operation."

"Yes, my lady."

It had been easy to falsify summons from the Archbishop of Tokyo to Kirei Kotomine. Authenticating the summons and manipulating Kotomine's route was not as easy, but it had been done. And here, on this sparsely-travelled route leading away from Tokyo to what was supposed to be a country retreat where the archbishop would meet with priests from across Japan, Tokiomi would be avenged.

Tires shrieked and metal screamed as armored trucks smashed through the barricade in the middle of the road, and cornered Kotomine's car from front and back. Mercenaries jumped out and leveled SMGs at the taxi, while bounded fields slammed into place around the section of road. They would keep anyone from seeing or hearing anything out of place in the middle of the field, save for a traffic jam caused by a perfectly-ordinary accident, and cause other drivers to slow and halt.

Together with a mental compulsion not to look further into the matter, it should be sufficient to provide ample time to complete the operation. As for those inside…

…those without magic circuits would be left in a trance-like state, during which they would remember and could do nothing.

Adelheid stepped out of the Mercedes, and lifted a megaphone to her face. "Kirei Kotomine," she began. "Come out slowly, and with your hands apart."

For a few moments, there was utter silence, and then the taxi's passenger door opened. A tall man with dark hair stepped out, wearing a dark habit. He moved slowly and deliberately as asked, with hands held away from his body, but when he faced Adelheid…

…the mercenary narrowed her eyes. That smile…that was not natural. And more than that, her instincts were screaming at her that she was facing…a predator.

"Well now," Kirei began conversationally. "Am I right in assuming that the summons by the archbishop were false? Or did you simply take advantage of them?"

"That is no concern of yours." Adelheid countered. "Confirm for us, you are Kirei Kotomine, yes?"

"I am."

The Mercedes' door opened, and as Valkolumi exited, Adelheid felt the sense of danger subside. In contrast, Kirei's smile faltered ever so slightly, and if anything it seemed that this time it was his turn to feel wary. "So you are the employer of these men." Kirei observed. "And it seems you have the advantage of me, and in more ways than one. Might I have the honor of your name, my lady?"

"You are not the one asking questions around here." Valkolumi said, masking the bottom half of her face behind her fan. "I am. Answer me: did you kill Tokiomi Tohsaka?"

For a moment Kirei was silent, and then he chuckled, placing a hand against his hip while ignoring the SMGs being raised in his direction. "I see." He said. "Master Tokiomi was most curious, who had sponsored Kariya Matou during the previous war. Having abandoned his family long beforehand, his unexpectedly-impressive ability as a Master and as a magus caught Master Tokiomi completely by surprise. Am I right in assuming that you are said sponsor?"

Valkolumi was silent, and after a moment, she briefly closed her eyes. "Did you kill Tokiomi Tohsaka?" she asked again.

Kirei sighed and shook his head. "Such a question is most illogical." He said. "Why do you bother so much with who it was who slew Master Tokiomi, when you yourself engineered the destruction of his family?"

Kirei paused and smirked at one of the men facing him. "I recognize that man." He said. "He was present when young Mistress Rin was killed. Also, I found it suspicious that Kariya Matou was able to seduce Mistress Aoi so easily. Did your agent make use of magic to besot…?"

"I will not repeat my question again." Valkolumi said with narrowed eyes, inwardly-disturbed by the priest's ability to connect the dots. "Did you kill Tokiomi Tohsaka?"

Kirei smiled, and briefly closed his eyes. "I do not see what point there is behind your grudge," he said after a moment. "Given all you seem to have done, but if you must have answer, yes. I killed Tokiomi Tohsaka."

Valkolumi's fan snapped shut. Kirei stepped into a stance, Black Keys flashing into existence between his fingers.

" _Tuulen_ ," Valkolumi began to cast, blue lines flashing across exposed skin as all her magic was focused on revenge, and Kirei leaped forward, fast enough to match the Magus Killer in his prime. "… _Salamurha!_ "

As blinding light filled his vision, Kirei's eyes could only widen in shock and disbelief.

" _No…I…_ "

* * *

 _The Present Day – Winter, 2003 to 2004_

Sakura Tohsaka, Sixth Head of Tohsaka shifted under her sheets, rapidly slipping back and forth between slumber and wakefulness, but ultimately unwilling to concede to the latter, weighed down by the comforting and all-encompassing warmth of her bed. But as she sank back into slumber, she felt something soft and heavy fall by her side, along with a flowery sweetness that drew her towards wakefulness.

Finally, Sakura opened her eyes, she saw Luviagelita Edelfelt lying next to her, long blonde hair styled into drills as usual. "Wakey-wakey, sleepyhead!" she said with a grin, only for Sakura to flip to her other side and curl up back into sleep. "Hey!"

Ignoring Sakura's protests, Luvia rolled her cousin out of bed. "Come on, wake up already!" Luvia huffed as a grumbling Sakura sat on the floor, rubbing her ass. "It's past nine in the morning. There'll be no breakfast if you don't!"

"How are you awake so early? And on a winter's day, no less?" Sakura grumbled, and Luvia haughtily huffed in response.

"I'm a hardworking girl, that's why." she said, and prompting Sakura to roll her eyes. "But more important than that it's almost time for breakfast! So hurry up and get ready already, before either breakfast gets cold or my little sister gets impatient."

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura grumbled before walking over to her closet to grab a towel and some fresh clothes. "Now, can you give me some privacy please? You certainly seem to have freshened up enough to have your hair curled already, and the same probably goes for Marjatta, so I'd like to freshen up myself before heading off to breakfast. And you did say _almost_ time for breakfast. That means I still have some time for myself."

"I'd say that's only because Marjatta and I woke up early," Luvia said. "But alright. Just don't take too long now, Marjatta and our parents will be waiting in the usual place."

"Got it!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later and Sakura walked into a dining room, joining Luvia, her twin Marjatta, and their parents for breakfast. "Good morning Uncle Kaleva, Aunt Anneli," Sakura said as a maid showed her to a seat.

"Good morning, Sakura." Kaleva Edelfelt returned the greeting.

"Good morning, Sakura." Anneli Edelfelt also returned the greeting.

"What, no good morning for us?" Marjatta remarked.

"I already said good morning to Luvia," Sakura said while taking a pastry from a platter and placing it on her plate. "But right, sorry about that Marjatta, so good morning."

"Strange, I don't recall such a greeting." Luvia said mock thoughtfully.

"I'm sure I gave such a greeting," Sakura said piously, while pouring orange juice for herself. "After all, you did most graciously wake me up for breakfast, didn't you? Why wouldn't I greet you when you're the first person I saw this morning?"

Marjatta snickered while Luvia's eye twitched. "Sakura dear," she said while cutting into a sausage on her plate. "I love you like a sister, but I do wish Marjatta had rubbed off on you less."

Marjatta wordlessly raised a hand, and Sakura's hand automatically rose to meet it, both girls wearing matching grins. Luvia's eyes twitched again, her parents laughing at the sight.

"So…" Sakura began several minutes later while busying herself with some sausage and bacon. "What's our schedule for today?"

"Well, Valkolumi's coming back from London today," Kaleva began and smiling as his niece perked up at the mention of her guardian's return. "So we'll probably have lunch out. After that, well, your Aunt Anneli will probably want to go shopping with Valkolumi before we head back here. Now, since Valkolumi and I will be busy going over her recent business, I'd say you're on your own until dinner."

"I want to go skiing." Marjatta said softly.

"Only if the weather holds." Anneli said firmly. "Got it, Marjatta?"

"Yes, mother."

"Good." Anneli said with a smile. "And the same goes for you, Luvia, Sakura."

"Yes, mother."

"Yes, Aunt Anneli."

"And after dinner?" Marjatta asked.

"Depends," Kaleva said with a shrug. "If Valkolumi and I aren't finished yet, or something comes up, then you'll probably on your own. If not, then magecraft practice. Or your mother could oversee it."

"That assumes that I won't be involved in anything that might come up." Anneli said. "Touchy thing, this business Valkolumi's gotten involved in recently."

"Agreed," Kaleva said with a nod. "But, I agree with her judgment. Too much of an opportunity to pass up, even if it is something of a…well, high-risk, go big or go home affair. Well, it comes with both what our family is known for, and of course, being magi."

"I suppose I can't argue with you there." Anneli said. "And Valkolumi is one of the best magi we have."

"Yes, she is." Kaleva agreed, as did Sakura.

" _She's amazing._ " Sakura thought. " _A better magus than father. Father barely knew what to do with my Imaginary Numbers, but Aunt Valkolumi quickly figured out how to put it good use. I…"_

"What's with the smile?" Marjatta asked teasingly.

Sakura giggled and glanced at her cousin. "Just thinking," she said. "How lucky I am, to have family like Aunt Valkolumi."

And then blinking as she realized what she just said, turned to her uncle with hands raised reassuringly. "Oh but you've also done so much for me, uncle!" she quickly said. "I'm not saying that I'm ungrateful or anything, I just…no, um…"

Sakura trailed off, blushing as her cousins and their parents laughed at her. "No, it's fine." Kaleva said with a wave of his hand. "I see what you mean, and I understand. For all we've done for you, Valkolumi was ultimately the one who raised you. That aside though, I'm glad to hear we've been a good family to you…as we should be."

Sakura nodded, and beamed at her uncle. "Yes," she said. "I'm very thankful, and happy that you're my family."

Kaleva nodded, followed by Anneli and Luvia. Marjatta placed a hand on Sakura's hand, and sharing a nod at her, squeezed reassuringly before they returned to their meal.

* * *

A/N

Tuulen Salamurha: Finnish for 'Wind Lightning Dragon'. Single-count spell, but enough to reduce a man to a blackened husk, as Kirei found to his (permanent) dismay.


	3. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Chapter 1

Valkolumi and Kaleva looked on as Luvia and Sakura sparred in a heavily-reinforced and warded fighting pit. Both girls wore had set aside aristocratic finery – more so Luvia than Sakura – for something more athletic for the spar, Luvia favoring a black and blue leotard with gold bands running over her thighs, torso and hips. Sakura, for her part, favored a more utilitarian approach, with a simple, dark blue bodysuit.

The two elder magi looked on as the two younger magi exchanged blows that would normally have been enough to shatter stone and crater the earth. And even with the reinforcement and wards placed on the fighting pit, the surrounding chamber shook with the force of their blows.

Kaleva shook his head as they continued to watch. "No matter how many years pass," he said. "I'm still in awe at your success with Sakura."

Valkolumi just nodded. "It's nothing special." She modestly replied. "While Imaginary Numbers have many possible applications, for what I had to teach her all that was needed was their affinity for spiritual entities. And even then it was just a matter of adding another two steps to bridge the gap keeping her from using her family mysteries."

"So you've said before." Kaleva replied.

"It's the simple truth." Valkolumi said, narrowing her eyes as Sakura caught a punch from Luvia on her forearms, and skidding back as Luvia followed through with several punches. Sighing, Valkolumi stepped forward. "Sakura, stop holding back so much! Use _Zephyruksen Siivet_ if you have to!"

"Understood!" Sakura shouted back.

"Like hell!" Luvia also shouted, launching a powerful series of attacks faster than before.

"Good!" Valkolumi snapped, clapping her hands. "Remember; training is merely bloodless battle!"

"And battle is bloody training!" the girls chorused, moments before their fists met with a sickening crack. In another moment both girls were stepping back, faces tight with pain, before Luvia kicked out sideways with her right leg.

Sakura caught it with a raised left arm, skidding back with the force of the blow…and Luvia's eyes widened, Valkolumi smirked, and Kaleva tutted and shook his head at the mistake. " _Zephyruksen Siivet_!" Sakura cast, wind spirits emerging from gems in her bodysuit's forearm sockets. They briefly spiraled around her, and then inwards, Sakura's magic circuits flashing as she bound the wind spirits to her.

"Oh no!" Luvia snapped as she jumped back, opening the distance to regain freedom of mobility. Gandr rounds erupted from her fingers, but Sakura was already moving past and around in a blur, her crest glowing bright as lightning encased her right hand and forearm. "I won't let you…!"

Luvia whirled, magic circuits and crest alike glowing as she braced herself to meet Sakura's charge. Roaring, Sakura struck forward with her right hand, blazing with lightning, only for Luvia to divert the blow ever so lightly with a raised left arm, piercing her chest and a lung instead of her heart…and delivering a crushing blow to Sakura's chest in the next breath.

Kaleva and Valkolumi narrowed their eyes, the former's mouth opening wordlessly in concern as both girls staggered, and then collapsed away from each other, blood bubbling out from their mouths. "Luvia…Sakura…" he whispered.

Valkolumi was silent, but her eyes blazed at Sakura's still form, and the crest still glowing on her arm. The next few moments passed like caramel flowing outdoors in winter, and then she breathed a sigh of relief as Sakura chuckled wetly and spoke up.

"Hey, Luvia?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel?"

"Like drowning in my blood." The blonde said, coughing up blood as she choked out a few laughs. "You?"

"My chest…is…killing me…"

Both girls laughed at the dark humor, the elders above breathing sighs of relief. "So who won?" Luvia gasped.

"I think you did." Sakura said before coughing up more blood. "You caused more damage with that last bit."

"So…what's the score…?"

"Let's tally that…up, later…when we're not…drowning, in our own blood…"

"Sounds good." Luvia said, inserting a jewel into her chest wound and beginning to cast a healing spell. Likewise, Sakura ejected the wind spirits from her body, forced them back into their gems, and prying two other gems free forced herself to swallow them to start healing up.

"You girls alright down there?" Kaleva asked once both girls had finished patching themselves up.

"Somehow," Luvia replied, sitting heavily on the ground and rubbing her chest. Nearby, Sakura was doing likewise, prodding gingerly at one point or another with a hand and waving up at Kaleva and Valkolumi.

"Alright, that's enough of that." Kaleva said with a nod. "Get up here and get changed. Unless you have an objection, Valkolumi?"

"No, it's fine." Valkolumi said, fanning herself with her fan. Both girls nodded in the pit below, and helping each other up walked over to the stairs. Valkolumi followed them with her eyes, and then hiding the bottom half of her face with her fan walked over to wait for Sakura as she got out. "Didn't you make a fundamental mistake down there?"

"No, I don't think so." Sakura replied without hesitation, and Valkolumi snapped her fan closed, exposing her neutral expression.

"Explain."

"Never go all in from the start, unless you're certain of victory." Sakura said. "If you do, and the enemy ends up still having fight in them when you're spent, what happens next?"

Valkolumi stared into Sakura's eyes for several moments, Sakura making no move to break eye contact, and then finally, Valkolumi smiled. "Well-reasoned," she said, leaning forward to begin prodding at Sakura's chest and torso. "I understand questions like these become repetitive but…"

"Repetition is the mother of learning." Sakura finished with a smile. Valkolumi nodded.

"Indeed," she said, before straightening after several moments. "Well done with the healing spell, so off you go."

"Yes auntie."

Sakura hurried off, meeting Luvia by the doors, the two girls leaving while chatting at high speed. "Shame Luvia isn't a boy." Valkolumi observed. "If she was, they'd make a good match."

"I am perfectly fine with only daughters, thank you very much." Kaleva said deadpan. "How was Sakura?"

"Perfectly fine, though the muscles and other repaired tissues will be stiff and aching by tomorrow morning." Valkolumi said while tapping her chin with her fan in thought. "Or not; knowing the girls, once they get changed they'll take a shower, and then it's off to the sauna for some relaxation."

"Nothing wrong with unwinding in the sauna after hard work." Kaleva said thoughtfully. "Especially when they damn nearly killed each other."

"I didn't say there was." Valkolumi said. "And it happens regularly enough…though we'll never get used to it, it seems."

"How shameful for magi, isn't it cousin?"

Valkolumi was silent for a moment, and then briefly closing her eyes, smiled sardonically. "Magi are Human too." She said. "The best, and worst, part of us."

Kaleva smiled in agreement, but then his smile turned vicious. "Care to spar with me before calling it a night, cousin?" he challenged, and Valkolumi hid the bottom of her face with her fan. And then, narrowing her eyes, just as quickly closed it.

"Well, I don't see any reason why not."

* * *

Luvia heaved a sigh of satisfaction as she sat on a bench in the sauna, running a hand through blonde locks fallen out of shape, their usual curls straightened out by running water. Opposite her Sakura did likewise, reclining on her bench to better enjoy the heat of the sauna.

Luvia blinked then, eyes catching three tattoos carved on Sakura's right arm. Thinking it over for a few moments, Luvia shrugged and decided to press on. "Seeing as it's almost New Year," she began. "And you haven't seemed to be making any moves to prepare, I'm guessing you've either forgotten about it, are planning to cram the preparations afterward, or you're not going to join in."

"What?"

"Heaven's Feel? The Holy Grail War?"

"Oh _that_." Sakura said before shrugging. "No, I'm not joining."

Luvia's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"But," Luvia fumbled. "Aren't the Heaven's Feel rituals part of your family's legacy? Aren't you obliged to take part, no matter what?"

"Says who?" Sakura countered. "We're only guaranteed a spot as Masters, but we're not obliged to join in…well, yes actually we are, but…not under my circumstances."

" _Your_ circumstances?"

Sakura sighed and paused for several moments. "As you said," she said. "It's part of our – my – family's legacy. But it isn't our whole legacy. In fact, you could say _I_ am the legacy. Not the Holy Grail, or the contest for it. I'm the only Tohsaka left alive. If I die, then my family dies with me."

"Magi walk with death…"

"…in pursuit of the Root." Sakura interrupted. "And that's why I'm not joining. The Grail can only grant wishes within the limits of the World. When all is said and done, it's useless with regard to the ultimate goal of the magi. The Tohsaka are a family of magi. I'm a magus. I'm the only one left who can carry on our duty to find a way to reach the Root. I should not risk my life for something that could not fulfil that duty, especially when failure would be utterly complete."

Luvia nodded slowly in understanding. Certainly, the ultimate goal of the magi was to reach the Root. Everything they did, everything they sacrificed, it was all for the sake of that goal. It was a goal that was all but impossible to reach, with every generation simply doing what it could to push the path to it ever so slightly further, before passing on the task to the next generation.

Indeed, even death itself was not seen as something to be feared, for it was a constant companion along the path. Whether as a constant shadow, the threat of an end to one's journey along the path, or as an ally to remove obstacles along the way, it was always there.

Magi walk with death. That was the first lesson they always learned, and one of the few shared between all magi, no matter how different subsequent training might be between families.

And to the Tohsaka…yes, the Heaven's Feel rituals of Fuyuki City were a part of their heritage, something that should be honored…but not when it meant potentially failing at their true calling as magi. Sakura _was_ the last Tohsaka. If she died, then it had to be in pursuit of that calling, and or had already secured the next generation to succeed her in her duty.

In that light, her decision not to join was completely justified.

"So," Luvia continued. "If you weren't the last Tohsaka, you would have joined?"

Sakura didn't answer at once, though she eventually closed her eyes. "Maybe I would," she said. "But if I wasn't the last Tohsaka, I probably wouldn't _be_ a Tohsaka."

"Huh?"

Sakura smiled. "I was born a spare, remember?" she asked, and Luvia blushed.

"Oh right, I forgot about that."

Sakura giggled and shook her head. "No, it's fine." She said. "Still…let's assume that say…I was born the heir instead of my late older sister, father still died in the previous war, mother…well, your family still took us in. Would I have joined…"

Luvia looked on in confusion as Sakura trailed off with surprising uncertainty for several moments. "I'm honestly not sure, to be honest." She finally said.

"Why?"

"Well, for starters it's strategically unwise." Sakura said. "The objective of strategy is to win a war. And the basic condition for that is to make sure the difference between yourself and the enemy is at least equal, preferably skewed in your favor. Now, consider me as I am now: having barely finished my core training, and with little field experience. Then using the previous Heaven's Feel as a reference, it's clear that strategically-speaking I've already lost the war."

"It can be argued that as magi something like that is unimportant."

"Maybe," Sakura conceded. "But if that's the case, I revert to the same, fundamental argument behind why I'm not joining. Since it doesn't really advance the pursuit of the Root, is it really worth risking my life for it?"

Luvia nodded slowly. "I suppose there's a point there." She conceded. "And? I assume that's not the only reason why you still might not join the Holy Grail War, if there was a spare available right now."

"Heaven's Feel started forty years early."

"What?"

"Heaven's Feel is supposed to take place every fifty years." Sakura said. "To be honest, I never noticed it too until I was thinking deeply on whether or not to join the war. And that's when I realized it: it's too early."

"Coincidence?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case," she said. "Then it becomes even more dangerous, because it means the system has grown unstable such that flaws have started to appear in its functions."

Luvia crossed her arms in thought for several moments. "Yes," she eventually said with a nod. "You have a point there. Heaven's Feel is an incredibly-complex system, far beyond even ten-count spells. Well, that's a given of course, it is a Grand Ritual after all, and one that includes numerous concepts and mysteries linked together in complex relationships in order to achieve a miracle that is a wish-granting machine. That much is obvious when it summons Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes – which is beyond the World for one thing – and reincarnates them in the form of Servants."

"And it requires enormous amounts of magical energy to do so." Sakura added with a nod. "That's why there are supposed to be fifty years between wars. It simply takes that long to gather that much of the land's mana."

"Though that begs the question," Luvia said. "If it takes that long to gather enough mana for the ritual, how could it have started forty years early?"

"I don't know." Sakura said with a sigh. "I'm going to have to look around when I go back to Fuyuki in a few years, and see what I can find. Or make contact with old man Zouken, he's supposed to be my substitute as Second Owner while I'm gone. Though that's going to have to wait until after the war."

"Why not just contact him now?" Luvia asked. "Or the Church? Aren't they supposed to be overseeing the contest."

"So they are." Sakura said coldly. "But, that's a political decision, and you know it. After what that bastard Kirei did to my father, I wouldn't trust a priest any further than I could throw him."

"Understandable," Luvia said before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

Sakura nodded curtly before briefly looking away. "As for contacting old man Zouken," she said. "Well, if he hasn't noticed something has gone terribly wrong – especially given the last war's malfunction that burned half of my city to the ground – then he's going to be participating in the war. He might be too focused on victory, to give my warnings deep thought, and might think it part of a strategy to throw him off. Especially since I don't have any evidence for it, and the Church seems confident enough that the Grail is working right, that they seem to be letting it go ahead as…well, normal, as it can be."

"And he might dismiss claims of your non-participation as a ruse, at least until the war starts and it's clearly obvious."

Sakura nodded. "And I'm not walking into my city once the war is in full swing, until it ends that is." She said.

"Of course not," Luvia agreed. "That's suicide. As a magus, you're a potential Master. All you have to do is steal command spells. Difficult without a Servant of your own, but doable. And more than that, you'd be a target for just that. Without a Servant of your own…"

Sakura nodded. "But," Luvia continued. "If the Church thinks the Grail is functioning…no, you don't trust the Church. And I don't blame you."

"Old man Zouken might trust them, if he's still participating…" Sakura murmured. "He was old when my father was young. I…I do not think he's such a fool, that he wouldn't have noticed the…the same issues, as I have. Or at least, that's what I think."

"…you don't trust him completely, do you?"

Sakura didn't answer, but after a moment her fists clenched. "He might have disowned the man," she said. "But old man Zouken's son…he destroyed my family! He took my mother from me! He…!"

Sakura broke off, gritting her teeth. "Sorry," she said after a few moments. "I let my emotions get the better of me. It's old bile by now, so I shouldn't let it get to me like this."

Luvia looked on for a few moments, and then sighing, nodded in understanding. "Sorry," Luvia said. "I shouldn't have brought it up, and I didn't mean for the conversation to come to this."

"It's fine." Sakura murmured before taking a deep breath and letting out a shuddering sigh. "Let's just…move on."

Luvia nodded in agreement, but even then, it was several minutes before the uneasy and heavy atmosphere lightened sufficiently for them to find something else to talk about. "Speaking of New Year," Luvia began. "Do you already have a dress to wear? We only have a few days left, after all."

Sakura glanced at Luvia, and then briefly closing her eyes smiled in thanks and understanding. "Yeah," she said. "I have a dress ready. In fact, I had the measurements for it taken, materials selected, designs looked over and revised, and everything else that goes with a new dress done months ago. You know how Aunt Valkolumi is."

Luvia chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Oh yes," she said. "Though you know her better than I do, of course."

Sakura just shrugged, and as Luvia laughed some more, she too joined in, finally dispelling the last of the pall from earlier.

* * *

Sakura returned to her rooms after a relaxing hour in the sauna, and making her way to her bedroom made a beeline for the closet. Changing to her nightclothes, she glanced at a wall clock as it chimed the hours, and after some thought put on a dressing robe afterwards before heading back into the sitting room leading to her bedroom.

" _Still too early to sleep…_ " she thought, perusing her bookshelves before picking a book and taking it with her to an armchair to read. Sitting down, Sakura's attention was drawn to the snow falling outside, and after another moment she set down her book to walk over to the windows.

A twist of the handle opened the big, floor-to-ceiling windows, and stepping outside Sakura stretched at the sharpness of the cold winter air. There was no wind though, just snow falling gently from the dark and cloudy sky.

Even then, Sakura stood there on the balcony, looking out from the walls of the main Edelfelt residence in the Lapland countryside at the snow-covered landscape stretching out before her. Inevitably though, the novelty faded, Sakura sneezing once before shivering with the cold.

Distant laughter greeted her actions, and blinking, Sakura turned her head to look down the Edelfelt residence's façade, gleaming with light from numerous windows and exterior lighting, to where a similarly dressed Valkolumi was likewise looking out into the night. "Great minds think alike, it seems." Valkolumi remarked across the distance.

Sakura laughed weakly and rubbed the back of her head. "No," she said. "I just…I don't know. I just felt like standing out in the snow, or something like it, I guess."

"Is that so?" Valkolumi replied. "Well, as long as you know your limit, there's nothing wrong with that. Though, I daresay you've reached that limit, haven't you?"

Sakura was silent for a moment, and then she shrugged. "In this case," she said. "Yes, I think so too."

Valkolumi smiled across the distance. "You should go back inside." She said. "You wouldn't want to catch a cold now, would you?"

"I don't." Sakura agreed. "Good night, then."

"Goodnight, Sakura." Valkolumi said with a nod, turning to go back inside her own rooms and closing the windows behind her. Sakura stared after her for a moment, and then looked back out at the winter landscape for a few more moments. And then sneezing a second time and shivering some more, also decided to go back inside.

* * *

Luvia was reading a book on fairy tales when she felt something heavy press onto her from behind, arms winding around her just above her breasts. "Did something happen?" Marjatta asked her twin.

"No, not really." Luvia replied.

"Okay," Marjatta said, resting her chin atop Luvia's head. "How was training?"

"Sakura punched a hole through my left lung."

"What about her?"

"I caved her chest in."

Marjatta whistled. "Not bad," she said. "What's the score now? And no, draws don't count."

"…I have three wins since my last loss." Luvia replied. Given that training regularly involved 'sparring' almost to the death, scores were reset every time the winner's winning streak came to a halt, otherwise the scores would certainly get ridiculously large. "You?"

"The score was reset the last time Sakura and I fought." Marjatta said with a shrug. "I all but sheared off an arm, but she ruptured my aorta. That was really nasty though, healing the injury and getting the liquid out was very much touch and go for a while."

"Sakura mentioned the same earlier." Luvia remarked. "Understandable, really, given how much damage a caved-in chest would involve. Without her crest, she'd be dead."

"Thank God for crests." Marjatta said with a laugh. "And Ore Scales. That way _everyone_ has a crest."

"Thank God indeed."

It wasn't an exaggeration. Crest could keep magi alive, even in the face of critical injuries. So long as their brains were undamaged, they could still access their crest, and had prana to cycle through it, they could live. Live and recover, maybe even continue the fight in short order, depending on the injuries previously incurred. Such was one of many miracles crests bestowed upon magi.

The problem with that of course, was that not all magi had crests. For one thing, crests took time to make and stabilize, usually over several generations. And for another thing, only one per generation could inherit a crest, barring certain circumstances, such as the creation of a branch family, who were traditionally _supposed_ to be bestowed a crest fragment. Both to serve as the foundation of their own crest, and to bind them to the main family. This however, came with several risks, including destabilizing the crest, or even effectively sabotage a family's magecraft.

As a result, family heads and their heirs were typically the only ones with crests, and indeed, many branch families lacked crests (or proper ones) of their own.

Enter Ore Scales, the Edelfelt Clan's Sorcery Trait, which allowed for _two_ individuals per generation to inherit a crest. While it did not solve the problem in case more than two children were born, this was not really a problem per se, given that most Edelfelt clan members were content with simply having an heir and a spare.

More than content, actually, as it also solved the problem of jealousies tearing families apart, between an heir and a spare competing over the crest. Most solved this problem by simply not training the spare, or given them only basic training before trading them away or marrying them off for some gain or obligation or another such reason.

But with Ore Scales, Edelfelt spares could receive the same crests (and training) as the heirs, and thus resolve most factors leading to self-destructive jealousies from the very beginning. And even the position of clan head was not nearly as competed over as others might think, as the responsibilities that came with the post were more than enough to put off the majority of potential rivals.

All in all, this meant that for a relatively-young clan, the Edelfelt had a much greater number of branch families than other magi lineages, all of which were equals to the main family, who were essentially first among equals as opposed to ruling over the branches, as was usually the case. Not only that, but Edelfelt was also subject to far less inter-familial strife than might be expected from large magi lineages competing with itself.

"Sakura doesn't have Ore Scales though." Marjatta murmured thoughtfully.

"All the more reason she should marry a right and proper Edelfelt cousin." Luvia remarked. "If so, there's a good chance – better than most in fact given Sakura is already one-quarter Edelfelt – her children would inherit Ore Scales. And Imaginary Numbers."

"Two Sorcery Traits," Marjatta murmured before giggling. "Already playing clan head, aren't you? Trying to further tie the Tohsaka branch into the clan, all the while enriching it…"

"…and the clan in the process." Luvia finished before smiling at Marjatta over a shoulder. "Of course; father has high expectations of me, and I don't intend to let him down. As for further tying Sakura's family to our own…well, why not? Family is family, even if that is a rather sentimental reason. On another note, well, Imaginary Numbers have numerous possible applications, beyond simply what Sakura has already done with it. If we keep them close – well as close as a family whose home territory is on the other side of the world can be – then the whole clan could potentially harvest all the fruits without any need for any kind of unpleasantness."

Marjatta nodded her agreement. "Agreed on all counts," she said. "Though, is it really possible for them to gain more than one Sorcery Trait?"

That brought Luvia up to a halt. "I…do not know." She eventually said. "But even if it isn't, if she marries one of our cousins, then her husband would have a crest to pass on, just like Sakura has. She can have two children, and for another generation at least, her family can enjoy the blessings of not having its children either fight for its legacy, or favor one at the expense of the other."

Marjatta nodded sadly. "That's likely what might happen." she said. "But at the very least, Sakura should be happy."

"Yes, I think so too." Luvia agreed. "And after everything that's happened to her and her family, she deserves that much."

Marjatta nodded, the twins falling into silence for several moments. "Marjatta?" Luvia eventually spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Can you get off please? You're rather heavy."

"Hey!"

* * *

A/N

Magus training is supposed to be painful and brutal, if nowhere nearly as much as Matou 'training' (which isn't actually training at all). And considering the Edelfelts' background, it shouldn't be too surprising how (in this fic at least) they take the Roman concept of training as 'bloodless battle' to the next level (i.e. all but killing each other if not for their crests).

And yes, you're not mistaken in what you read. Sakura won't be participating in the Fifth Holy Grail War, for reasons outlined above. Remember: The Greater Grail's true purpose to open a path to the Root is a secret known to only a few people. Zouken for one, the Einzbern Clan (more like an AI and its bioroid assistants/creations) for another…and none for the Tohsaka, as Kirei and Tokiomi died before they could tell Sakura about the truth behind the Greater Grail. As far as Sakura and everyone else knows, the Greater Grail is just a wish-machine.


	4. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Chapter 2

December 31, 2003: New Year's Eve, or rather the afternoon preceding it. The immense mansion that was the main residence of the Edelfelt Clan bustled with work, as maids and manservants prepared for the New Year's Eve Dinner to be hosted by the main family, and the party afterwards.

There were a great many things to be done, and even though work had proceeded from the morning onward and much had, in fact, already been done, much more still needed doing. Cleaning, decorating, bringing out or rearranging furniture, preparing linen, china, silverware, entertainment, food, drinks, and many other such matters…

…the household busied itself, as did members of the main family and others living in the mansion. And as the lady of the house, Anneli Edelfelt oversaw it all. Currently, she stood in the ballroom which would be the main gathering place for tonight's guests: not just clansmen who could attend, but also friends, allies, and retainers, a small army of magi and spell-casters bound together by a single name or by common interests.

"…a little more to the left…" the blonde woman said, directing the manservants hanging on the wall a portrait usually kept in storage and brought out only for large celebrations and festivities like that of tonight. It was that of a tall, bearded man in Renaissance attire, one of the clan's ancestors dating back to its early days when Finland had been part of the Kingdom of Sweden. "…a little more…alright that's just a little too much, back to the right a bit…hmm…"

Anneli hummed uncertainly, arms crossed over her chest as stared at the wall and the portrait to be hung thereon. After a few moments she glanced from one side to another, comparing the portrait's current position, to those of nearby portraits. Briefly closing her eyes, Anneli nodded.

"Alright," she said. "Move it just a bit to the right…that's it, a little more…little more…okay!"

Nodding and smiling in satisfaction, Anneli stepped back as the manservants put the finishing touches on hanging the portrait against the wall. The sound of young women chattering in the background drew her attention, and turning her head curiously, Anneli followed her daughters and a trio of her nieces – including one Tohsaka – as they crossed the ballroom opposite her, quietly arguing amongst themselves about the limited number of pianos and how to allocate rooms with such a luxury between the guests.

"…I'm just saying reserving even just a room or two for guests of a certain standing and above is going to rub elbows the wrong way."

"I think so too. First come, first serve would be the fairest way to divide them."

"It might be fair but I still think that…"

Anneli smiled as her twins argued with their cousins. "Should we perhaps intervene, my lady?" a maidservant – and one who'd served in the mansion for decades – asked, likewise following the younger Edelfelts and their Tohsaka cousin with her eyes.

"No, we'll leave it to them." Anneli said, already turned back to the portrait from earlier, and examining its position on the wall one last time. "They did their parts well, over the past couple of years, when we began letting them handle some matters in events such as these. I think we can trust them to live up to expectations tonight as well."

"With respect my lady," the maid began, following Anneli as she walked away. "What if they make a mistake?"

Anneli paused, and glanced at the maid over her shoulder. But she wasn't offended. The maid had served long enough to have the right to express her opinions, and it was a legitimate question. "It's how they learn, isn't it, Becky?" she asked, and the maid bowed. "Now then, what's next that needs my attention?"

"Yes, my lady." Becky said, checking the clipboard she'd been carrying under an arm. "The first set of finger food for tonight…"

* * *

The notes of Handel's Water Music Suite in G major echoed from the ballroom through the mansion, providing a pleasing accompaniment to the snow falling outside the windows. Sakura sat in a chair in a sitting room, watching the snow and listening to the music while waiting for her aunt to join her.

She'd been waiting for about half an hour maybe, when Valkolumi finally joined her. The older woman wore a sleeveless, simple but elegant gown of pale blue, a white flower pinned over her left shoulder. Valkolumi's platinum locks had been elegantly-curled, and then partly tied back into a simple bun simply but tastefully embellished with a single white feather. Silver and sapphires glittered in a necklace around her neck, and held lightly in one hand was her usual folding fan, in truth a mystic code for her wind and lightning magecraft.

"Did you wait long?" she asked as Sakura rose from her seat.

"Not really," Sakura replied. "And watching the snow while listening to Water Music is quite relaxing."

Valkolumi chuckled. "True," she admitted. "Though it can also be quite the soporific."

Sakura laughed. "That's also true." she agreed. "But as you can see, I've managed to stay awake despite the fact."

"Also true," Valkolumi said with a nod before looking Sakura over. The younger woman wore a sleeveless, off the shoulder gown in white, with elaborate lacing over the skirt and along the upper edges. Sakura's dark brown hair had also been elaborately curled, though left to fall in elegant waves over her shoulders, with white elbow gloves rounding out her clothing for the evening.

Humming to herself, Valkolumi tapped her chin with her fan while smoothing the lace on Sakura's gown here and there. "Perfect," she said with a smile, and tilted her head. "Though, you're not really fond of white, are you?"

"I prefer red and black."

Valkolumi laughed. "Indeed," she said. "But neither would be appropriate for this evening. And your personal feelings on the color aside, you do look stunning in white, as always."

"Thank you for the compliment, auntie." Sakura said with a slightly-mocking curtsy, and Valkolumi chuckled. "But while I concede the fact, my preferences stand."

Valkolumi nodded in approval. "Make your own opinions, and stand up for them," she said. "But, not so much that it ends up inconveniencing you – or worse – in the end."

Sakura nodded in agreement, and Valkolumi made to leave. "Shall we go?" she said. "Being fashionably late is all well and good, but just being plane late would not do either."

"Yes, of course."

Nodding at Sakura, Valkolumi led the way out of the sitting room, and across the mansion to where the party was being held. For a few minutes they walked in silence, and then Valkolumi spoke up.

"The New Year is upon us," she began. "And yet it seems to me you have yet to show interest in developments in your home city in Japan."

"You're not wrong." Sakura said without any hesitation, immediately divining what her aunt was talking about. "I have no intention whatsoever of joining the Fifth Holy Grail War."

"Oh?" Valkolumi asked, looking over her shoulder briefly. "For someone who's always wanted to do her family and ancestors proud, you're showing a surprising amount of disregard for what could be considered the Tohsaka's crowning achievement so far. Or perhaps…you are afraid of dying?"

Sakura didn't answer at once, but she eventually and briefly closed her eyes. "I am." She admitted. "To an extent."

Valkolumi came to a halt, and turned to face Sakura with a stern expression on her face. "Explain." She said.

"A wish-machine is useful, but it's not a big deal." Sakura said. "And if I die, then what becomes of Tohsaka? I do not fear death, only when it means failing as a magus. I need to live, long enough at least to secure the next generation."

For several moments, Valkolumi just stared into Sakura's eyes, which met hers without flinching. And then smiling and stepping closer, Valkolumi leaned in to kiss Sakura on the forehead. "Well reasoned, Sakura." She said, with a genuinely-impressed tone in her voice. "I admit, I'd expected you'd want to join, and had prepared to convince you not to…but I'm glad I was wrong."

Sakura smiled and blushed, lowering her face. "You taught me well." She said softly.

"Hmm," Valkolumi hummed in agreement, a hand rising to gently run her fingers through Sakura's curls. "Yes, I did. You are like the daughter I never had."

"I wish I really was."

Valkolumi blinked at that, and in the next moment Sakura found herself enfolded in Valkolumi's embrace. "Hush now," she whispered. "There are some things we cannot change, and just live with and make the best of. This is one of those things."

Sakura nodded against Valkolumi. "I know." She whispered.

 _If you were our mother…then I'm sure…_

Valkolumi stayed silent for a few more moments, patting and rubbing Sakura's back, and then pulling back smiled warmly at her. "Better?" she asked.

Sakura nodded. "Better," she said, and smoothing her dress.

"Good," Valkolumi said, linking an arm with Sakura as they resumed heading towards the party. "Tonight is New Year's Eve, when we celebrate the passing of the old year, and welcome the coming of the new! So, let us not dwell on this, not that I wish any different…"

Valkolumi trailed off, her face looking sad for a few moments, and Sakura remembered everything Valkolumi and her other relatives had ever told her about her father, and how close they had been in the days they'd been children themselves. Happier days…days when the photos which took pride of place in Valkolumi's rooms had been taken in...

 _I loved your father. I always did, and I still do. And I always will. Always._

 _Your aunt loved your father very much. So much so, that she never gave her heart to any other, even after he met your mother. And she never will._

" _Mother…why?_ " Sakura thought, walking in silence with her equally-silent aunt. " _Why did you marry father…when you were just going to just leave him…us…me…did you…did you really…ever truly love us? Or was it all just…something…something like passing fancy? Something to pass the time with? Until you could go back to…to that man?_ "

Sakura blinked as Valkolumi tightened her grip on her arm. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

Sakura was silent for a moment, and then she sighed. "Same old, same old," she said. "My…mother…and wondering what was the point of getting together with father, when she was just going to leave us in the end to go back to that damn Kariya Matou. And if it were to be like that, then father should have just stayed with you."

Valkolumi sighed. "Now is not really the time and place for this conversation…" she said and trailed off before sighing again. "I really should take my own advice."

Sakura smiled at her aunt who smiled back. "Well," Valkolumi said. "If nothing else, you can take comfort in the fact that I don't see you anymore as simply the last of Tokiomi's left alive in this world. No, now and indeed, for a long time now, you are my daughter in all but blood and name."

"So you've said before." Sakura said gratefully. "And I understand why you felt that way at first. I look like her, after all. Like my _mother_. The woman who stole father from you. Except for my eyes. Father's eyes."

"So you've said before." Valkolumi repeated with a nod, and shared a laugh with Sakura afterwards. Approaching the hallway's end, Valkolumi took a deep breath before disengaging her arm from Sakura's. "Still, as I said earlier, I should take my own advice, and so should you."

Sakura nodded. "I understand." She said before smiling and theatrically spreading her arms. "Let us celebrate the passing of the old year and its ills, and welcome the new year and all its promises!"

Valkolumi laughed and smiled. "Indeed," she said, opening her fan. "Now, let us go and do just that."

Sakura nodded, and followed her aunt as she opened the door and passed through beyond. They stepped onto a landing running around and looking down on the ballroom below. Guests thronged below, gathered into groups speaking with each other, or wandered from one group to another to exchange pleasantries while sipping wine from crystal cups.

Other guests thronged around tables where finger food had been laid out, sampling them one by one or placing their selections on provided plates. More guests stood across the landing Valkolumi and Sakura were on, or at a drink station in an out-of-the-way corner of the ballroom below.

"Hmm," Valkolumi hummed, covering the lower half of her face with her fan. "Things seem to be going quite lively, aren't they?"

"Yes, I think so too." Sakura said, taking a pair of drinks from a passing server, one of many wandering across the party, serving drinks and taking away empty cups and dirty china and silver. Handing one to Valkolumi, Sakura raised her glass in a toast after her aunt took hers. "To…us, I would say."

Valkolumi closed her fan to expose her smile, and she briefly closed her eyes. "How awkward," she said with a small laugh. "But to us, indeed."

Gently striking their glasses together in a toast, Valkolumi and Sakura took a drink, and then turned back to the ballroom below. For several moments they watched in silence, and then catching Kaleva's eyes in the distance below, traded nods before the head of Edelfelt returned his attention to his current conversation.

"Well then," Sakura said. "I'm going to go look for Luvia and Marjatta, and the rest of our group."

"You mean the rest of your clique." Valkolumi corrected, smirking in amusement as Sakura blushed. "Very well, in the meantime, I shall go around and see what I can do to amuse myself with."

Sakura nodded, and made to leave. "I'll see you later then." She said, and after a nod from Valkolumi Sakura walked off.

* * *

Valkolumi delicately sampled the red wine she'd been provided to drink with the main course, and while elegantly slicing into her roast listened to a cousin discussing a recent incident he was now involved in to another one of their cousins. As she lifted the morsel of meat up to her mouth, she raised an eyebrow in interest at what she was hearing.

"Pardon for interrupting," she said, wiping her mouth with her table napkin after chewing and swallowing. "But your quarry did what?"

"Killed my contact's entire family, that's what." Aake Edelfelt said sourly. "Burned through the protections I placed his property under, and butchered them all."

"Butchered?"

"Yes, butchered, as in literally so." Aake said in disgust. "Most of the clan, that is. Torn apart by some kind of familiar or another, leaving only bloodstains and broken and chewed up skeletons behind. Men, women and children, all dead or rather fed to some sort of rampaging hellbeast."

Valkolumi lifted an eyebrow at that, clearly skeptical of his apparent metaphors, but Brooke Poppingham-Edelfelt (a cousin by marriage) quickly clarified. "The targets in question are a trio of voodoo priestesses." He said.

Ah…that certainly explained the 'hellbeast' remark. About that…

"You mentioned 'most' of your contact's clan." Valkolumi said, returning to her meal while speaking. "Care to elaborate?"

"There were multiple family units of my contact living on his property." He said. "Safety in numbers, or so we thought. Children and grandchildren, fathers, mothers, aunts and uncles, grandparents…all were among those killed while trying to hide."

"I see." Valkolumi said with a nod. "And if all that were left were skeletons, how did you manage to identify them?"

"Spell-casters or even just contacts in the mundane world have their uses."

"Ah…DNA testing? But if the bones were chewed up, how certain are you of accuracy?"

"We're not. The margin of error would be too high, at approximately…sixty per cent or so." Aake said with a shake of his head. "That's why we hired a necromancer, and with his help we were able to confirm who attacked, and identify whose bones are whose."

Aake paused, and sighed. "The least we could do was give them a proper burial." He said softly. "Rodrigo Gutierrez was my friend. I've eaten with his family many times in the past. I owe his family that much…and to aim for more."

"Revenge, is it?" Valkolumi said with a small smile, her eyes briefly flickering to a nearby table, occupied completely by adolescent girls, including her ward and Kaleva's twins. It was easily among the noisiest and liveliest tables, as might be expected when a bunch of well-knit girls and young ladies were gathered together. "Well, I suppose I can't say anything against that."

Aake nodded curtly, but then Valkolumi turned back to him. "However," he said. "You implied some of the clan survived, didn't you? Or weren't included in the butchery?"

Aake blinked, and then nodded as he realized what Valkolumi was talking about. "Rodrigo survived, since he was meeting with me." He said. "We got a distress signal via a familiar, but by the time we arrived, it was too late."

"So he's the only survivor then. Poor man."

Aake paused and sighed. "Yes, he is." He said. "I worry for him, after all this. He…'

Aake trailed off and shook his head. "As for your second question," he said. "No, not all of them were butchered. Some of them, those who tried to make a fight of it in the open…well, they were dead."

"I expected no less."

"Yes, and that was the strange part." Aake said. "At least at first, since our normal means to determine cause of death indicated that they'd simply died on the spot. Natural causes even, if not for…strange, markers and readings on their bodies and magic circuits."

"How is that possible?

"And that's where our necromancer clarified things for us." Aake clarified. "According to him, their souls were ripped out."

"What?"

"Sounds rather far-fetched," Brooke Poppingham-Edelfelt said. "It's theoretically-easy to do, but in practice ripping a soul from a body with such ease that it could pass for a natural death to most forms of examination is not easy."

"Agreed," Valkolumi said with a nod. "Barring a certifiably-high level of skill and achievement in spiritual invocation, and possible a similar advantage to Sakura's Imaginary Numbers…no, even then you can't just rip souls out of a body with that level of finesse, not outside of a ritual of some sort. And from the way you described it, those who died that way were in heated battle, weren't they?"

"They were." Aake replied with a nod. "As for how…it's voodoo. Witchcraft; the concepts and principles of spiritual invocation as we know them don't apply, or not as we expect them to."

Valkolumi nodded slowly in understanding. "Though, why exactly are you involved with witchcraft users, Aake?" Brooke Poppingam-Edelfelt asked.

"Client," Aake said. "Can't talk about the details for the usual reasons, but I can say that my client's husband was killed and she was cheated by the trio I'm after. Unfortunately, it seems they found out, and went after my contact to keep him from giving me information. Too late for that…and for Rodrigo's family."

"I see." Valkolumi said, nodding again. "What were the protections you laid down on Mister Gutierrez's property?"

"I used a _Vehreä Seinä_ with a rooted and distributed configuration as a foundation." Aake said. "Additional protections were laid above that, but they were of standard forms. Oh, and Rodrigo added a number of bound nature spirits for additional protection against attempts at breaking down or slipping through the bounded fields."

" _Vehreä Seinä_ …" Valkolumi murmured. "It's not bad as a foundation…and the distributed configuration…wait, bound nature spirits? Against voodoo practitioners?"

"You might as well plug a leak with tissue paper." Brooke Poppingham-Edelfelt remarked.

"In my defense," Aake said. "We placed those defenses long ago, back when I first started my business relationship with Rodrigo. We never expected to have to deal with voodoo or witchcraft of that sort."

"I can see how they broke _Vehreä Seinä_." Valkolumi said with narrowed eyes. "Neutralizing or more likely, coopting the nature spirits, they must have withered the vegetation anchoring _Vehreä Seinä_ , and effectively pulled the carpet out from beneath the other defenses."

"Yes," Aake said with a nod. "That's what we're thinking too."

"So what now?"

"Tonight, I'm going to be speaking with van der Pool over there," Aake said with a gesture towards the tables well away, where retainers and allies not related by blood or marriage but had been invited were seated at. "See if I can get him and his bunch on side. Breaking the defenses down the way they appeared to have been sounds easy, but it actually isn't. Same goes for ripping souls out, much less fighting and killing an entire clan afterward or in the process."

"Sounds like you'd be dealing with a rather nasty quarry this time, Aake." Brooke Poppingham-Edelfelt remarked.

"So I am." Aake agreed. "But…I'm already committed to the client, and Rodrigo…I think…no, revenge is the only thing keeping him going. After that, win or lose…"

Aake trailed off and sighed. "If he's got no other reason left to live for," Valkolumi finished. "And doesn't want to find or gain a new one, then he might as well succeed in his final effort, is it?"

Aake didn't say anything, and just nodded.

* * *

The notes of Chopin's Nocturne in B major tinkled through the air, forming a calming background to the quiet chatting of the young ladies gathered in the sitting room. Marjatta sat at the piano, playing while at a pool table near the other side of the room, a blonde and a brunette played billiards with each other.

A sharp, striking sound echoed through the air as Luvia sent the cue ball against her last object ball, and sent it rolling into a pocket. "I wonder how long it'll be until we're missed?" she asked.

"Hey, we were there during the first dance." Sakura observed. "And the hour after. I daresay they can't blame us for retreating here to rest."

"Hmm," Luvia hummed before trying and failing to pocket the eight ball. "Good point there."

Straightening herself while Sakura made to take her turn on the table, Luvia quietly looked around the room. Milla, Leena, and Inari were napping on the couch, while Aina and Emmi were quietly talking to each other on two adjacent armchairs.

Kielo was reading on another armchair, and Lilja napped on another armchair. Marjatta of course, was playing the piano, and blinking Luvia turned back to the pool table as Sakura pocketed her ball. "Good shot." She said.

"Thanks!" Sakura said, already lining up her next shot.

Luvia smiled benignly as Sakura ran up a streak, pocketing her next two balls in short order, allowing her to go for the eight ball. Lining up her shot, Sakura pulled back her cue, and then sent the cue ball against the eight ball. It rolled across the table, but slowed and stopped short of the designated pocket.

Luvia chuckled. "It'll be an awkward shot." She said, already moving to try and pocket the eight ball again. "But it's doable."

"Good luck." Sakura said in good sport.

"Thanks."

Luvia twisted her body a few times as she tried several different positions with which to pocket the eight ball, before settling on one. Pulling back her cue a few times while gauging the necessary force, she finally jabbed forward hard, striking the cue ball which then struck the eight ball and sent it cleanly into her designated pocket.

Smiling triumphantly, Luvia rose up, and caught the coin flicked in her direction by a likewise smiling Sakura. "With this we're even." Luvia said.

"I don't mind." Sakura said with a shrug. "It's all in good fun."

Luvia's smile twitched wider, and then they turned to the Grandfather Clock standing in the corner as it chimed the hour. They stared at it for a moment, their sleeping cousins stirring at the sound, and then Luvia turned back to Sakura. "Happy New Year, Sakura." The blonde said.

"Happy New Year to you too, Luvia." Sakura said, before heading to the liquor cabinet.

Luvia for her part walked to the center of the room, her sleeping cousins stretching their limbs as they got to their feet. "Happy New Year everyone." Luvia said, meeting her twin midway and linking hands with her.

"Happy New Year, Luvia!"

"Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year to you too! And to everyone else of course!"

"Don't forget ladies!" Sakura said, walking over with a tray on which were several glasses of chilled champagne. "We have to toast the new year!"

"Oh right!"

"Of course, of course,"

"Let's toast."

Taking one of the prepared glasses, Sakura handed it to Luvia, who as next family head and the leader of their little clique should be first among them. Luvia accepted the offered glass with a smile and a nod, and waited in silence as Sakura distributed the remaining glasses before taking the last for herself.

"Well cousins," Luvia began after Sakura had placed the tray on a nearby table, and sweeping her eyes across her cousins and her twin, as they stood in the center of the room, raised her glass in a toast. "First, I'd say Happy New Year, and here's to another wonderful and fruitful year for us all! _Kippis!_ "

Glass clinked against each other as the other ladies met Luvia's glass with their own.

" _Kippis sille!_ "

* * *

A/N

Last chapter set in Finland (except for flashbacks) before we head over to Japan. Note though, that while Sakura will be heading over to Japan, she still won't be participating in the Holy Grail War. More like dealing with the aftermath.

 _Vehreä Seinä_ : Finnish for 'verdant wall', a specialized form of bounded field used by the Edelfelt Clan, incorporating the Earth element. Gems are only used to lay down the field, as over time vegetation growing within the area of effect become seals as well, 'rooting' and 'distributing' the bounded field and making it harder to break, as you have to kill all the vegetation to get all the seals.

Kippis: Finnish for 'cheers'.

Kippis sille: Finnish for 'cheers to that'.


	5. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Chapter 3

 _"I want to be a superhero."_

 _A group of boys sat together in a classroom, eating their lunches on adjacent desks. It was a redheaded boy who spoke, and prompted surprised looks from everyone around him. "Hold on," a sickly-looking boy with white hair began. "You actually wrote that in the essay earlier? Seriously?"_

 _"What?" Shirou Emiya asked. "It's not wrong to want to help, no, save people. And besides, you wrote in your essay that you want to be a wizard, didn't you?"_

 _Shinji Matou looked uncomfortable and fidgeted slightly at that. "Yeah," he began. "But…being a wizard…isn't as…well…"_

 _There was laughter all around as Shinji trailed off. "You're no different in the end, Shinji." One of their friends said with a grin. "But at least Emiya's dream isn't as fantastic as yours. While I don't think he'll ever get to fly around with a cape fighting kaiju, if he wants to live by helping and saving people, I think it's easy enough. He can become a fire fighter, or a cop, or even a doctor, and do all that. But…wizard…really, Shinji?"_

 _Shinji scowled and seemed to slump in his seat. Shirou noticed and glared at his friends. "Knock it off, you guys." He said, prompting raised hands. "If that's what he wants, then we shouldn't stop him from trying. I don't know how, but even so, I think if he tries hard enough, he can make his dream come true too."_

 _"Wow, Emiya, that's just like you."_

 _"Always so full of hope, aren't you?"_

 _"Always looking at the bright side…that's our Shirou Emiya."_

 _"I don't think there's anything wrong with always looking at the bright side of things." Shirou said with a certain air of pomposity, and had the rest of their friends laughing. Shinji though, said nothing for a few moments._

 _"You really think I can do it, Emiya?" he eventually asked. "Make my dream come true? Become a wizard?"_

 _Shirou glanced at Shinji at that, and smiled and nodded after a moment. "Yeah," he said. "I do. If that's what you want, then you should try and make it come true. You just have to find a way, I guess."_

 _Shinji stared back at Shirou, and nodded after a moment. "Thank you, Emiya." He said with a sigh, and looked away and out the windows. "I…"_

 _Words failed Shinji, and Shirou returned to his meal. "No problem." He said._

 _"But," Shinji began, still looking out the windows. "What about you? Do you really think you can become a superhero? Help people? Save people?"_

 _Shirou quietly ate for a couple of moments, and then pausing, he nodded determinedly. "Yes." He said. "I think I can. It'll be hard, I'm sure of it. But, if I do everything I can, then someday I'm sure, I can find a way, and become a Hero of Justice!"_

 _"Is that so?"_

 _Shirou blinked, and suddenly he was no longer an elementary school student, nor was he eating lunch in the classroom. He was several years older now, in his last year of school, standing alone in the dark before a misshapen and heaving mound of flesh that towered high overhead. Shinji's face stared at him from where it sprouted from the mound, twisted and pulled tight with agony._

 _"Then," he asked. "Why couldn't you save me?"_

 _Shirou gasped, Shinji's face being pulled into and swallowed by the mound of flesh which shuddered and heaved, great masses of flesh bursting outward on all sides as if to swallow Shirou himself…_

Shirou's eyes snapped open, and he gasped explosively, heaving himself up to a sitting position. As he did so, a pair of arms wrapped around his torso unconsciously tightened, the girl's diminutive form curling up closer to him.

Shirou glanced at her at that, Illyasviel von Einzbern sleeping peacefully beside him, her platinum-blonde hair splayed out over her face. Shirou stared at her for a few moments, and then smiling rubbed Illyasviel's head, causing her to murmur and smile in her sleep. Shirou smiled wider, and then remembering the nightmare sighed and looked away.

 _I'm sorry, Shinji. I really am. If only…if only I'd known earlier, I could have done more to help you. I'm sorry._

Sighing again in regret and sadness at the best friend he couldn't help – couldn't save – Shirou laid back down. For a few moments he stared up at the darkened ceiling, and then glancing at a clock sighed. " _Four eighteen in the morning…_ " he thought as he rolled to his side, placing an arm over Illyasviel – or Illya as she preferred to be called – before closing his eyes to try and get some more sleep.

 _Maybe…maybe this time…I won't get any more nightmares…_

* * *

The private jet soared through the air, cruising along the final leg of its journey on a trans-polar route from Finland to Japan. In the passenger cabin, Sakura sat on a window side chair and looked out of the plane as the rising Sun dyed the clouds rose and gold. Meanwhile, her thoughts strayed back to Finland, and the discussion that had led to her heading back to her home country well ahead of plan.

 _Sakura took the sheaf of papers from her uncle, who sat back in his chair behind his desk, folding his hands while he waited for Sakura to finish reading. In a nearby chair, Valkolumi sat with her arms crossed over her chest, having already read the same report._

 _And Sakura read. It was an Association report based on another report from the Church Overseer in Fuyuki City, on the progress and result of the recent Heaven's Feel ritual, conducted over the previous weeks. And as she read, her eyes widened, and her hands began to shake._

 _"Sabotage…" she whispered in horror and mounting fury. "…no, worse than that, it went out of control…and the veil was torn…"_

 _"Friends," Kaleva began, rising from his seat and taking his empty snifter with him while heading for the liquor cabinet. "It seems that for the past several years, we have allowed a…madman, free reign over the Tohsaka territory. A madman who attempted to sabotage the recent Heaven's Feel ritual, resulting in…how did the report describe it?"_

 _"A three to five-story mass of flesh," Sakura growled. "From which would sprout deformed limbs, faces, extremities and other Human body parts at quick intervals before being quickly swallowed back up by the greater mass. In short, an out of control flesh golem, a failed attempt to replicate Einzbern's Lesser Grail."_

 _"Not so failed," Valkolumi remarked. "The report mentioned the true Lesser Grail, the homunculus Illyasviel von Einzbern, survived the war. Most likely, Matou's Grail absorbed the energies of the fallen Servants instead of von Einzbern, but unable to control the energy, went berserk."_

 _Kaleva nodded, taking a drink of brandy. Valkolumi took her own empty snifter from a nearby table, Kaleva walking over to refill it. "In our defense though," Valkolumi began. "There was no indication nine years ago that Zouken Matou would be so mad as to try and sabotage a Grand Ritual, especially one as complex as the Heaven's Feel. And, Tokiomi certainly trusted him and his family enough…"_

 _"As much as I hate to…dishonor, father's memory," Sakura interrupted. "Father could make mistakes too. My sister was killed, wasn't she?"_

 _Valkolumi narrowed her eyes, while Kaleva nodded slowly. "And…" Sakura hesitantly continued. "He married my mother, didn't he?"_

 _Kaleva sighed as Valkolumi slightly lowered her face. In the next breath, the Edelfelt head stepped closer and placed a reassuring hand on Sakura's shoulder who nodded once at him._

 _"More importantly," Kaleva said. "What we must decide to do now, is what to do next."_

 _"Zouken Matou has been branded a heretic for sabotaging a Grand Ritual under Church oversight." Valkolumi said. "According to the report, Zouken Matou has fled the city, and gone on the run or to ground elsewhere, before Church Executors could arrive to carry out his sentence. This has been confirmed by one Bazett Fraga McRemitz, as an Association Enforcer, and who had previously participated in the war."_

 _"According to the Association report though," Sakura said, reading the papers a second time. "That damn Matou hasn't been sealed yet though. The Association just wants him for…questioning."_

 _Valkolumi snorted at that. "Indeed," she said with mocking amusement. "Most likely, there are those who'd trade…security, for his knowledge on having replicated Einzbern's Lesser Grail's functions."_

 _"But if failed, didn't it?" Sakura countered._

 _"Yes," Valkolumi said with a nod. "Matou's Grail couldn't control the energy. But it absorbed it, didn't it? It…usurped, the Einzbern Grail. So it's not a complete failure, and the concepts and principles behind it worthy of continued investigation and research."_

 _"I…see…" Sakura said, while looking away angrily. Kaleva took a drink._

 _"Go ahead," he prompted her. "Say what's on your mind."_

 _"That damn family's caused too much trouble lately to be worth calling an ally any longer." Sakura snarled. "First, that damn Kariya Matou…he seduced my mother during the fourth Heaven's Feel. Alright, he was disowned, and my mother was at fault for letting herself be seduced…but, about being disowned, well, he was their Master wasn't he?"_

 _"You think it was part of a strategy?" Kaleva asked. "To throw your father off his game?"_

 _"Yes." Sakura said. "Though I'll admit it's…problematic, given Kariya and…Aoi, ran off to Tokyo or wherever else in Japan after the war, instead of staying in Fuyuki and the rest of their damn family."_

 _"It probably was part of a plan," Valkolumi said. "One way or another. As you said, Kariya was disowned, and yet he fought as the Matou Master."_

 _"I suspect it's deeper than it looks." Kaleva added. "The Matou Clan was in decline…perhaps Kariya was the only one suited for the role of Master, outside of the patriarch himself. He would get Aoi regardless as part of their strategy, maybe as his…condition, for serving the family he had previously been cast out of."_

 _"Condition?" Sakura echoed, but Valkolumi nodded._

 _"I think so too." She said, before glancing at Sakura. "Or one of them, at any rate. Another condition could be that if he won the Grail, then the clan would welcome him back with open arms."_

 _"In hindsight it seems strange though." Sakura said after a moment. "Father always called him a coward, and…he wasn't…cast out. He left, of his own accord."_

 _Valkolumi narrowed her eyes briefly, and then smiled. "And yet he was powerful enough to contest your father in the war?" she asked._

 _"I…I don't know…I mean, about how that could have been the case…"_

 _"Perhaps he was not suitable for their magecraft," Kaleva mused. "He left because he saw no future in his clan, and somewhere else found a means to realize his potential, and on being selected as Master offered to fight for them in return for one, Aoi To-Zenjou, and two, if he succeeded, then they'd welcome him back."_

 _"If that's the case though," Valkolumi said. "The Matou wouldn't have had to promise Aoi Zenjou to him. He could have claimed her as part of his strategy for the war, and they could care less. I mean…it wasn't as if she was too old to bear children, was she? If he claimed her and brought her with him in the event of victory, she could still bear his heirs for the clan."_

 _Sakura grit her teeth, and breathed deeply. "As interesting as this discussion is," she said. "We're getting off topic."_

 _Valkolumi smiled with amusement. "You were the one who brought him up." She said._

 _"Quite," Sakura admitted. "And moving on, Zouken Matou's recent sabotage. Simply put: even if the Association doesn't…punish him, for what he's done, I doubt they can do anything for the Church to absolve him of heresy. And I am not allowing a heretic to stay on my territory. It's too provocative to the Church for one thing, and for another, well, he and his family have caused too much trouble."_

 _"Will you cast him out of your territory, Sakura?" Kaleva asked._

 _"Yes." Sakura said with a nod. "Yes, I will."_

 _"Can you really?"_

 _"I'm the Second Owner." She replied. "I have the authority to do so."_

 _"Indeed," Kaleva agreed with a nod but then narrowed his eyes. "But, can you enforce your decision?"_

 _"I…I can call in Enforcers, to assist, can't I?"_

 _Kaleva smiled and nodded. "So you can," he said. "But it's easier said than done. Still, I agree. Setting aside the complicated matter of Kariya Matou and focusing entirely on Zouken, he has caused too much trouble to tolerate. If the Association does not sanction him, then he must be cast out of the Tohsaka territory."_

 _"I do not think he can fully avoid Association sanction." Valkolumi said thoughtfully. "Perhaps over sabotaging the Heaven's Feel he can, but not over the veil getting torn."_

 _"Thankfully…though…" Sakura said, leafing through the report again. "Von Einzbern, Emiya, McRemitz, and Overseer Hortensia were able to patch up the tears so to speak, and calm the waters down afterward."_

 _"Indeed," Kaleva agreed, drinking brandy again. "But the fact that the veil was torn in the first place is a problem. Even more so, as we – trusting in cousin Tokiomi's trust and regard for Zouken Matou – appointed him as acting Second Owner in Sakura's absence. And we have a number of enemies and rivals in the Clock Tower willing to make trouble out of that."_

 _"I see." Valkolumi said with a nod._

 _"Damn it…" Sakura cursed before closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, uncle. This is my fault…if I could have been Second Owner then…"_

 _Kaleva waved her off. "Don't apologize." He said. "I don't blame you, and you were too young and untested to be Second Owner. And as previously-mentioned, there was no indication at all that Zouken Matou would be capable of such madness."_

 _Sakura nodded curtly, while Valkolumi nodded again. "And?" the latter asked. "What now?"_

 _"I must head off to London and play the political game to keep the vipers off our backs." Kaleva said. "Valkolumi, I want you and Sakura to go to Japan, and assess the situation there in person. There's no Second Owner right now, and with McRemitz already pursuing Zouken Matou, there is no impartial figure we can trust to supervise magi activity in the territory. And there are two magi there right now: von Einzbern and Emiya."_

 _"Hmm…" Valkolumi hummed in thought. And then smiling took a drink of her brandy. "As I recall, Emiya and von Einzbern are around Sakura's age, are they not?"_

 _"What?" Sakura echoed in surprise._

 _"Oh you didn't know?" Valkolumi echoed her ward's surprise._

 _"I…I don't have much interest in the Holy Grail War." Sakura said with slightly pink cheeks. "So…until now, I…hadn't thought much of it, much less who were involved."_

 _"That's not good." Valkolumi chided. "Even if you understandably have no interest in Heaven's Feel – at least right now – it's still taking place in your territory. You should at least have kept apace of developments."_

 _"Yes," Sakura said with small bow. "It was a mistake in hindsight, and a lesson to be learned in my responsibilities as Second Owner."_

 _Valkolumi nodded, while Kaleva hummed in thought. "The recent Heaven's Feel had plenty of young magi participating in it." he said. "Emiya, von Einzbern, and Matou were around your age…"_

 _"Matou?" Sakura echoed before leafing through the report again. Her eyes narrowed as she found and read what she was looking for. "Shinji…Matou…the next heir of the clan…seventeen years-old…killed during the war…I see…they adopted someone else…well that makes sense now…"_

 _"Yes," Kaleva said with a cough and a drink of brandy. "They found another successor, as Tokiomi invoked your status as, well, a spare, and took you back."_

 _Sakura didn't react, and after a moment Kaleva continued. "Galliasta was also quite young, older than you and those mentioned above, but still quite young and inexperienced by comparison to the other Masters. It's amazing really, miraculous even, that not only were Emiya and von Einzbern able to compete against them, but along with McRemitz emerged as the survivors in the end. Though, I suppose we can give an allowance for von Einzbern, homunculi being what they are, but Emiya…"_

 _Kaleva paused and sighed. "He's the adopted son of the Magus Killer." He said, and nodded as Sakura gasped and her eyes widened in shock and surprise. "Now, you know why I'm so cautious about there being no Second Owner, especially since apparently, Emiya and von Einzbern have rekindled their alliance from back during the fourth Heaven's Feel. You are family Sakura, and therefore your territory is also ours by affiliation. And I'd rather not have the Magus Killer's son and his first-class homunculus of an ally running around without someone keeping an eye on things."_

 _"And that's why you want me and Aunt Valkolumi to go to Fuyuki." Sakura said._

 _"Precisely,"_

 _"And going back to me," Valkolumi said. "As repeatedly-said, Emiya and von Einzbern are around Sakura's age. Also, the former would probably be lacking experience, for all that he was able to survive a Grail war. And finally, Sakura's already finished her primary training, hasn't she? She was going to head off to the Clock Tower in fact, in a month or so, wasn't she?"_

 _"Yes, and?"_

 _"It seems to me that there may be no need for me accompany her to Japan."_

 _"You want her to go alone to Fuyuki?" Kaleva asked in concern. "Valkolumi you can't…!"_

 _"Is she unqualified for it?" Valkolumi interrupted. "I think not. Heaven's Feel is over and the official investigation is done. Indeed, all we're asking her to do is to keep an eye on things, until an appropriate substitute is found and she can head off for the Clock Tower to advance her studies."_

 _"But…"_

 _"Call it," Valkolumi added with a smile. "A dry run, a rehearsal, in her future responsibilities. A…final assessment even, of her primary training as a magus, before she heads to the Clock Tower."_

 _Kaleva still looked unconvinced, and then turned to Sakura who looked as though she wanted to say something. "What about you?" he asked. "What's your opinion on this?"_

 _"Luvia has already been involving herself in Clock Tower incidents, hasn't she?" Sakura replied. "Compared to some of those, performing a Second Owner's responsibilities should be no different at worst, and probably not even that. As Aunt Valkolumi said, Heaven's Feel is over, and so is the official investigation."_

 _Kaleva hummed thoughtfully at that, and after a few moments sighed and nodded. "I suppose that's true." He finally admitted. "And Luvia's been involved in Association business and doing missions of her own for years now. In hindsight, you've been rather sheltered compared to her, and it may be time to end that."_

 _Valkolumi nodded in agreement as Kaleva spoke. "With that said," she began. "Much of that is due to me. We can't have the last Tohsaka taking too many risks until her training is complete, can we? And you did send Luvia out before her training was, strictly-speaking, complete."_

 _"True," Kaleva said. "Though…"_

 _He trailed off and glared at Valkolumi who smiled and drank her brandy. "They were…assessments, of her skills at the time." Kaleva said somewhat sourly. "Much like this assignment of yours, until a proper substitute can be found and you can go to the Clock Tower."_

 _"Rest assured," Sakura said. "I have no intention of failing in any way."_

 _Kaleva's lips twitched. "No, I don't think you do." He said. "And I don't think you will. Alright, go and prepare for your departure."_

 _"Yes."_

Sakura sighed and sat back in her chair. " _I was so confident at the time,_ " she thought. " _And again when I left earlier…but now that I'm almost there, I…_ "

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Sakura glanced at Luvia as she appeared from behind Sakura, walking past to sit opposite. "Just…thinking," she said. "Or rather, worrying, about what's going to be facing me when we get there."

"I see." Luvia said, and turning to the flight attendant as she approached. "French Vanilla please, milk and sugar to serve."

The attendant acknowledged the order and walked away, and Luvia turned back to Sakura. "It's only natural." Luvia said. "First time on the field, after all. And I too was quite nervous when I first went out on a mission of my own. I…didn't really want to mess up in any way, or worse, end up dying."

Sakura nodded. "Any advice?" she asked.

"Just one," Luvia said. "Use your head."

Sakura burst out laughing at that, and Luvia grinned. "I…see…" Sakura said after a few moments. "Good advice…I'll take it."

Luvia nodded. "Well, actually," she said after a moment. "There's another piece of advice that you might find useful when it comes to the worrying."

"Oh?"

"It's the same with magic circuits." Luvia said. "You just bear with it, and eventually get used to it."

Sakura sat in thoughtful silence after that, and nodded after several moments. "I see." She said. "I can do that."

Luvia nodded, and glanced sideways as the attendant arrived with her tea. Placing the teacup and its saucer on the table followed by servings of milk and white sugar, the attendant bowed and left.

"Sure you really wanted to tag along?" Sakura asked as Luvia added milk and sugar to her tea. "You might end up getting bored."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes, I do." Sakura said. "Let's face it: outside of the Grail, there's nothing of real interest in Fuyuki for magi, even if the land is quite valuable."

Luvia nodded in understanding. "And?" she asked.

"You told Uncle Kaleva you were coming just in case some complications came up." Sakura said. "With Heaven's Feel at an end, I don't think there's going to be any real complications, despite everything we've discussed before it was decided you'd be joining me."

 _"I'm going with Sakura to Japan."_

 _"What?"_

 _It wasn't just Kaleva who asked. Anneli did too, as did Sakura, and Marjatta. Valkolumi just stayed quiet and watched, a single raised eyebrow expressing all that needed to be expressed._

 _"I'm going with Sakura to Japan." Luvia repeated._

 _"Why are you going with her?" Kaleva asked._

 _"Just in case complications came up." Luvia replied._

 _"I can take care of myself, you know." Sakura replied._

 _"Yes, I know you can." Luvia said with a nod. "But you don't have field experience…yet. That counts for a lot. I do."_

 _"Neither did you when you first went out on the battlefield."_

 _"I had support." Luvia disagreed. "You don't."_

 _Sakura stared at Luvia for several moments across the breakfast table, and sighed. "Do what you like." She said, and Luvia beamed before turning back to her father._

 _"Don't you have anything else to do?" he asked._

 _"Father, you can't seriously send Sakura over there without any backup!" Luvia protested._

 _"I wasn't…originally." Kaleva said. "I was going to send Sakura and Valkolumi, and both think Sakura can handle it on her own. Besides, this isn't a battlefield situation where support is necessary."_

 _"It might be." Anneli pointed out._

 _Kaleva scratched at his head. "I won't pick fights…or at least I'll try not to…" Sakura said. "I'll do what I must though, to fulfill my responsibilities as the Second Owner of Fuyuki. I'll do what I can to keep it diplomatic, but if I must…"_

 _Sakura trailed off uncomfortably. "While I have the utmost confidence in Sakura's skills, her lack of field experience could prove an Achilles' Heel." Valkolumi said. "If so, then some support **may** prove necessary."_

 _"Will you go with Sakura then?"_

 _"Luviagelita has already volunteered."_

 _"I don't have any missions or jobs I need to attend to right now." Luvia added._

 _"What about your classes?" Kaleva persisted._

 _"I can take a leave of absence." Luvia said. "And I'll catch up easily enough. The curriculum's not that difficult, compared to training here."_

 _"Hmm," Kaleva hummed. "I still think Valkolumi or someone of similar expertise would be better suited for this…"_

 _"If I were present, then Sakura would be supporting me." Valkolumi said. "The point is supposed to be helping her grow into her shoes as a magus, outside of a workshop's relatively-controlled environment. And Luvia is better suited for that."_

 _"Why not Marjatta?" Kaleva pressed._

 _"Well for one thing Marjatta's field experience is less than mine." Luvia said before her eyes hardened. "And for another thing, I'm the older sister. By only a minute or so, true, but I refuse to let my younger sister stand in my place."_

 _"I'm not afraid of death, you know." Marjatta pointed out. "I'm a magus too."_

 _"Yes, I know." Luvia said with a nod. "But, it doesn't change the fact that I'm your older sister, and part of my duty is to keep you out of harm's way as much as I can."_

 _"…true enough."_

 _Luvia smiled and turned back to her father, who sat silent in thought with his arms crossed over his chest. Eventually he sighed and nodded. "Alright," he said. "I'll let you go with Sakura. But, don't take any unnecessary risks. And if you have to fight, then fight together, and if possible on a prepared battlefield."_

 _"Yes," Luvia said with a nod. "I understand on both counts."_

 _"Good." Kaleva said before turning to his wife._

 _"I think your father's covered most points." Anneli began. "That said, just remember you're there to support Sakura, not to upstage her. And Fuyuki is her territory. Don't undermine her authority, alright?"_

 _"Yes, I'll remember that."_

 _"Alright then."_

"If that's the case," Luvia said with a nod, and set her teacup back down before beaming at Sakura. "It seems that I've managed to get myself a vacation, haven't I?"

* * *

A/N

Pairing locked, as Illya and Shirou.

Yes, Shinji became the Lesser Holy Grail. Not nearly as optimal as using someone with exceptional potential like Sakura, but like Gil did in UBW with Illya's heart, it should be doable. Zouken after all has parts of the Lesser Holy Grail from the previous war, plus ten years more or less to further refine his work, and to compensate for the inferior nature of his material (i.e. he doesn't have Iri's heart, Illya was a superior model of homunculus/vessel, and Shinji doesn't have magic circuits). After all, Zouken was one of three people behind the Grail's creation. His knowledge of its mechanics at least rivals Jubstacheit's own, and maybe even surpasses it.

Of course, as mentioned in the chapter and like in UBW, it's a very…crude, construct, only somewhat better than Gil's Grail. A flesh golem that mindlessly rampaged once Shinji's mind broke…yeah, Heaven's Feel-lite (kind of) basically happened.


	6. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Chapter 4

The Tohsaka mansion bustled with activity for the first time in years, maids in green dresses under white caps and aprons going to and fro, sweeping the floor, dusting the walls, ceilings, and furniture, wiping windows, books, pictures and their frames, even candelabra and chandeliers among others. Curtains were taken down and washed, mattresses and pillows taken out to be aired, carpets pulled out to be sent for dry cleaning, and many other things beside needed to make the Tohsaka mansion livable again.

Sakura stood in the living room, surveying her maids hard at work, and then patted an armchair before sighing. She looked up, eyes distant, and _remembered_.

 _Seven-year old Sakura stood quiet and despondent, in the foyer of her own house. The government representative quietly spoke to her new guardian, who silently listened before closing her eyes and nodding once, held a hand up for silence before stepping closer to Sakura._

 _Sakura looked up, into a face and eyes as cold and stern as winter, platinum-blonde hair perfectly matching the given impression. "Hello," she said softly. "I'm Sakura Tohsaka. It's nice to meet you…Aunt…Valkolumi…"_

 _Valkolumi was silent for a moment, and then reaching out patted Sakura on the head. "It's nice to meet you too." She said neutrally. "I must say…you greatly resemble your mother. It's to be expected I suppose, but…"_

 _The older woman trailed off as Sakura looked away, only for Valkolumi to gently take Sakura by the chin and turn her head back to look at her face once more. And then Valkolumi smiled, causing Sakura's eyes to widen. The smile…it was like a touch of sunlight, like dawn after a long, cold, and dark winter night. "But more than anything else," Valkolumi continued. "You have your father's eyes."_

 _Sakura finally smiled, a small, very faint smile…it was just so hard to smile, after everything that had happened. But now…_

 _"I am Valkolumi Edelfelt." Valkolumi said, kneeling down to Sakura's level. "You already know that, as well as the fact that I'm your father's second cousin. And of course, that I'll be your new guardian."_

 _Sakura nodded, and Valkolumi patted her on a cheek. "But what you probably don't know," she said. "Is that I was your father's childhood friend."_

 _Valkolumi smiled wider as Sakura's eyes widened again. "Tell me," she began. "Would you like me to tell you some stories about me and your father when we were growing up? It would help us get to know each better."_

 _Sakura didn't need to think. She nodded a few times, and tried to smile again. It was small and faint…but it was a smile. "Yes, please." She said, and Valkolumi rose and patted her on the shoulder._

 _"Shall we go somewhere more comfortable then?" she urged, and Sakura nodded before leading the way to the living room._

 _"YES!"_

Sakura sighed and shook her head, before taking a stroll around her living room, finally coming to a halt before a set of pictures on top of shelves. Narrowing her eyes, Sakura surveyed them and those mounted on the surrounding walls. Many were black and whites, dating back to her grandfather's time, while others were more modern.

Bitterness tasted heavy as she saw her…mother's, visage among them, along with grief at her father and sister's images. Fists clenched as she saw them standing together, along with her and…

Sakura sighed again, and shook her head. "We'll have to fix that." She muttered.

"My lady?" a nearby maid asked.

"Hmm…oh yes, good timing," Sakura said, turning to the maid. "While you're polishing the picture frames, please remove the pictures inside and set them aside for my perusal. And not just the ones in this room. Every last one in the house, so pass the word along. Some changes need to be done here, many overdue, but all necessary."

"Yes, of course my lady." The maid said with a bow. "It will be done."

Sakura nodded, and turned back to the wall before nodding again. "One more thing," she said before pointing at a picture of Aoi _Zenjou_ standing alone in her wedding dress. "See this woman? I don't want to see her anymore. If there's any picture where she's all by herself, get rid of it."

"Y-yes, as you say my lady." The maid answered with another bow. "Might I ask who she is?"

"You have asked, and you will receive no answer."

"Please accept my apologies."

Sakura waved it off before turning back to the wall, and after a few moments nodded. "Keep the picture frames though." She said. "I have some pictures that could use them, and of someone better suited to grace my house than that woman."

"It will be done, my lady."

* * *

Sakura left the Tohsaka property, the outer grounds also busy with gardeners and landscapers hard at work at making the outer grounds just as suitable for a lady of good breeding as the mansion was. Content to leave them and her other servants to their work, Sakura went to see her cousin. She crossed the street, to the property exactly opposite her own…and she was there.

Like the Tohsaka property, the Edelfelt property bustled with gardeners and landscapers, and even plumbers working to fix a fountain on the front yard. Scaffolding had been erected along the exterior, workers hard at work fixing up the facade with others walking on or busying themselves on the roof.

Inside, maids in green dresses under white caps and aprons were going to and fro, sweeping the floor, dusting the walls, ceilings, and furniture, wiping windows, books, pictures and their frames, even candelabra and chandeliers among others. Curtains were taken down and washed, mattresses and pillows taken out to be aired, carpets pulled out to be sent for dry cleaning, and many other things beside needed to make the Edelfelt mansion livable again. Even more so than Sakura's own house: it might have unused for years, but the Edelfelt mansion? It had been _decades_ since anyone had stepped foot inside, much less lived in it.

Sakura blinked as she heard Luvia's irritated voice barking out commands and brushing aside protests and remarks contrary to her intent, and as she approached a sitting room a column of men in black and white business ensembles walked out. Noticing her, they stepped aside and bowed, Sakura acknowledging them with a nod, and at an inviting gesture from her went on their way. Once they were gone, Sakura entered Luvia's sitting room.

"So," Sakura began. "What's gotten you so worked up?"

"There's another Edelfelt property in this city." Luvia replied, setting down her teacup on its saucer. She invited Sakura to sit opposite, and gestured at a nearby maid to get Sakura something to drink.

"I'm aware of that." Sakura said with a nod. "You want it refurbished as well? Well, that's your decision to make, even if it is rather redundant. Just on principle?"

"Yes." Luvia said, sitting back on her armchair. "Is that so wrong?"

"What?" Sakura said, also sitting back on her armchair. "Doing things on principle is rather expected for magi, isn't it? Of course it's not wrong…by our standards, at least."

The cousins shared a smile, before Luvia leaned forward and taking her teacup took a sip. "However," she said while replacing it back on its saucer. "That's not what's gotten me so worked up. It's more that someone's been squatting on my property, that's all."

"…what?"

Luvia tapped her fingers on her armrest. "Apparently," she said. "Enforcer McRemitz used the other Edelfelt property as her base of operations during the war. Without permission, I might add."

"That's rather rude, don't you think?" Sakura said with a smile. "No, more than that, it could be…misunderstood, that she has connections with Edelfelt, and that her participation during the war while based on your property seen as a product of such. It could become problematic in many ways."

"Quite," Luvia agreed with a nod, as the maid from before arrived and placed a teacup on its saucer before Sakura. A serving of milk followed, and with a bow the maid walked off to take her place along a nearby wall. "I've already ordered that a…complaint, be filed with the enforcer office on McRemitz's actions, along with a demand for compensation."

"Compensation?" Sakura echoed, while pouring milk into her tea. Ignoring the honey and sugar containers on the table, she stirred her tea with a teaspoon before picking up the teacup and taking a sip. "Isn't that going too far? No…that's not quite right…rather, do you really expect to get anything?"

"Probably not," Luvia admitted. "Father's currently in London after all, doing damage control on all the trouble that madman Matou has stirred up for us all. He, along with the enforcer office, will probably want to quietly sweep this matter under the rug with no undue complications. McRemitz would probably just get a reprimand, that's all."

"And are you satisfied with that?"

"No." Luvia said. "But what we want, and what we get in life, are hardly one and the same thing."

"True enough," Sakura said with a nod, and taking another sip. "Speaking of the Matou issue, once refurbishing of our properties are complete, would you like join me speaking with Emiya and Einzbern?"

"What exactly do you plan to do?"

"Invite them for tea in my house." Sakura said. "This is my territory, after all. They should be the ones coming to me, not the other way around."

Luvia nodded her approval a few times. "Quite right," she said. "Do you think they will come?"

"I think they would." Sakura said with a small smile. "The invitation will be on the pretext of discussing the events of the war…but I'll eventually steer it to the matter of Emiya's squatting on my territory. Einzbern's long had a presence on my family's territory, up to and including a property and residence of their own on the outskirts. That's no problem…Emiya though…"

"Careful," Luvia advised. "He's the son of the Magus Killer, after all."

"Don't worry," Sakura reassured Luvia. "I'm not planning on starting or picking a fight. I just need to follow the formalities and all, and besides, for disposing of Matou's flesh golem and patching up the Masquerade…I think I could count that as…time served, for squatting, yes?"

Luvia chuckled and nodded, and then reaching forward took her teacup and took a drink. "Is that all you will be discussing?" she asked.

"Perhaps," Sakura answered thoughtfully.

"Oh?"

Sakura didn't answer at once, instead reaching forward to take her teacup and take a drink for herself. "Have you ever heard of the saying," she began. "That the best place to hide a tree in is in the forest?"

"Yes, I have."

"Good," Sakura said. "Because while it's probably nothing, the possibility does exist that Zouken Matou might have doubled-back and given Enforcer McRemitz – to say nothing of the Church Executors after his head – the slip, and bunkered down on the Matou property. If he is…then he needs to be evicted, sooner or later."

"If he is there," Luvia said. "We'll have to be careful. A magus is strongest in their workshop, and if Zouken Matou really has holed up in his house…he'll be right next to it, and will want to fight us in it."

"It's going to be an uphill battle." Sakura admitted. "Which is why if things go well during our meeting, I'd like to hopefully invite Emiya and Einzbern to join us in…dealing, with Matou."

Luvia raised an eyebrow at the meaningful pause in Sakura's sentence. "The Association wants him alive for questioning, remember?" she pointed out, and Sakura shrugged.

"Battlefields are dangerous places." She said, and Luvia burst out laughing.

"They are." She agreed. "You do realize though, that if they join in, we'll likely have to divide the spoils between us."

"Considering all the trouble Matou must have caused them during the war," Sakura said. "I think they deserve compensation. Einzbern, especially: I believe I told you in the past of my hypothesis on the Grail system growing…unstable."

"You did."

"I imagine Matou's…sabotage, by making and using a fake, flawed, and unstable Lesser Grail would have made said instability in the system even worse." Sakura said. "And the Einzbern were the ones who actually built it, we just provided the land and Matou the means to power it."

"I see your point." Luvia said with a nod. "Certainly, Einzbern does deserve compensation from Matou for sabotaging a masterpiece of their magecraft. And if they help in dealing with Zouken Matou…why not get it then and there?"

Sakura nodded, but Luvia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though," she asked. "What if Zouken Matou isn't there?"

"If he isn't," Sakura said with a smile. "Then he isn't. But what is there is there, and if so, then we should do as Edelfelt ought to do. Of course, Einzbern and her Emiya is free to join in as well, if they want to."

Luvia laughed and nodded. "True," she said, taking her teacup and raising it in a toast to Sakura. "Very well, I think I'll join you when you do go and have Einzbern and Emiya over for tea. If nothing else, even if they turn out to be hostile – which I doubt for a couple of reasons – then you won't have to deal with them on your own."

"Quite," Sakura said, raising her own teacup and returning Luvia's toast.

* * *

The setting Sun lit the sky gold and orange as a car drove up a street at a cemetery, slowing to a halt to park at the curb. The driver quickly stepped out, and coming around opened the passenger-side door to allow Sakura to exit. "Thank you." She said, carrying two bouquets of chrysanthemums with her. "Wait here, I won't take too long."

"Yes my lady."

Sakura nodded and strolled off, the driver closing the door behind her. She walked in silence, up the stone steps and then down a stone path, rank upon rank of tombstones marching along the hillsides on either side of her. At a certain point she stepped off the path, walking over the grassy ground for some distance before finally reaching a place where all the tombstones – with one and just one exception – had one common name among them.

Tohsaka.

Sakura ignored them for the most part, for all that they were all her relatives. Maybe later she'd bring flowers for them, but today…today she'd come to visit two people and two people alone.

Chrysanthemums were laid over the graves of Tokiomi and Rin Tohsaka, before Sakura sank down, seated before their graves with her legs folded beneath her. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" she asked with a small smile. "Sorry I haven't visited for so long, but Finland's just too far away to visit regularly."

Sakura paused and chuckled. Afterwards, she fell silent, just sitting there in the failing light with only the sound of the breeze to be heard.

"I'm terrible, aren't I?" Sakura asked, rubbing her face. "I've spent so much time in Finland, with our Edelfelt relatives, people who don't share the same names we do, that here and now…"

Sakura trailed off, and shaking her head sighed. "Here and now," she said. "I can't seem to shed any tears for you two, even though…inside…I…"

The wind briefly stilled and then picked up, Sakura sighing once more. "Sorry, father…onee-chan," she said. "I'm such a terrible person."

Sakura lowered her head and closed her eyes with a sad smile on her face. The wind died, silence and stillness ruling for several moments before Sakura raised her head and opened her eyes. "Though," she said. "It's the thought that counts, doesn't it?"

There was no answer, and Sakura sighed again. "Or…maybe…I'm just trying to convince myself that that's the case…?" she said. "I do know though, that you'd be more concerned that everything our family has done, was doing, and would have done, wouldn't end with you. Isn't that right, father?"

Again, there was no answer, but after a moment Sakura nodded slowly. "You always were a magus first and foremost, weren't you father?" she asked. "And if I remember right…so were you, onee-chan."

Sakura sighed and nodded. "Then," she said. "You can rest easy. I'm not sure if you'd approve of Aunt Valkolumi personally – though I will dare to say you were a fool to turn her away father – but as a magus…she's given me everything you'd have hoped and wanted me to have, and I know you wouldn't be disappointed if you could see me now."

The wind picked up, and after a moment bowing her head with eyes closed, Sakura got to her feet. Sweeping some loose strands of hair from her eyes, she smiled down at the two graves before her. "Once business here is settled, I'll be heading over to the Clock Tower." She said. "And when I come back…I'll definitely be someone you'd be proud of, father…onee-chan."

Sakura bowed low, and then rising turned to look at the other Tohsaka graves around her. "I'll be back before I leave." She said. "I'll bring flowers and incense, so until then…"

Trailing off, Sakura walked away, but as she left the Tohsaka plots behind her, she paused and turned, and again bowed low. Her respects paid for the present, Sakura turned and left as the Sun dipped below the horizon.

* * *

"My lady," a maid said while walking into a small parlor where Luvia was sitting at a table. "Lady Tohsaka is here."

"Send her in then."

"Yes."

Several moments later and Sakura was shown in, Luvia gesturing her to a seat before pouring white wine for them both. "How'd your trip to your relatives go?" she asked.

"About as well as might be expected." Sakura said, taking her wineglass and toasting Luvia before taking a drink.

"You don't need any…comfort?"

Sakura smiled and shrugged. "I'm stronger than that…I think." She said, before taking another drink.

Luvia raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, even as a maid arrived and placed a platter of cold meats before them before bowing and leaving. "You should visit yourself, though." Sakura said. "My grandmother's grave is there, and she is your grand-aunt. And the only one there whose tombstone doesn't have 'Tohsaka' as part of their name."

"I think I'll do just that when I have the time." Luvia said with a nod. "Oh yes, that's right. We'll have another guest joining us tonight, one Caren Ortensia, the Overseer of the Holy Grail War."

Sakura paused swirling her wine, and then slowly lowered the wineglass to the table. "The Overseer will be joining us?" she asked.

"Yes, that's right." Luvia said with a nod. "Is there a problem?"

"Not as such," Sakura said with a smile. "But is there a reason she is being so friendly? Or were you the one to invite her?"

"I did invite her to join us for dinner." Luvia said. "But I didn't contact her. She arrived to see you while you were out visiting your relatives, and came to see me instead. Apparently she wanted to talk to you about the previous Holy Grail War. But since it was getting late, I decided she might as well join us over dinner while discussing what needs to be discussed."

"I see." Sakura said, again picking up her wine glass and taking a drink. Moments later another maid appeared, and introduced the Overseer. As she entered the room, Sakura raised an eyebrow at the platinum-blonde, golden-eyed young priestess. "Caren Ortensia, I presume? It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Tohsaka." Caren said with a polite bow before sitting down, Luvia politely pouring her some wine. Caren nodded her thanks while accepting the glass, before turning to Sakura. "I must say our meeting has long been delayed. I had expected to meet you shortly before or during the war."

"My apologies for disappointing you." Sakura said, placing a table napkin on her lap before taking a sausage from the platter before her and putting it on her plate.

"Forgive and forget, as the Lord says," Caren said with a small bow. "That said, I am rather curious. Why did you not participate in the Holy Grail War? Of course, it was your prerogative to choose whether or not to participate, but as the last of one of the founding families, I'd have expected you'd…feel, obliged to join."

"That is a reasonable assumption." Sakura said while cutting into her sausage. The conversation stilled as Sakura placed a slice in her mouth and chewed before swallowing. "However, as you yourself said, I am the last of my family. There's too much to risk for too little gain for me to join the war."

"I see." Caren said, also taking a sausage from the platter of cold meats in front of them. "But, I was under the impression that magi were unafraid of death."

"So we are," Sakura agreed, and paused to take a drink. "But only in pursuit of our ultimate goal, that is to reach the Root. As useful as a wish-machine is, the Holy Grail cannot actually open a path to the Root, and can only grant wishes within the limitations of the World. Thus, risking my life for something that does not contribute to the ultimate goal of my family, to say nothing of my death ending my entire family's legacy all at once, is not something I can do."

"I see." Caren said, nodding while cutting into her sausage. The three young women ate in silence for a while, and then taking a drink from a glass of water beside her Caren resumed. "Your reasoning is sound, and in hindsight, it seems I've assumed ill of you to an extent: please accept my apologies."

Sakura bowed slightly in acknowledgment, and then Luvia spoke up. "I have to say though, Overseer," she said. "You surprise me."

"How so?"

"You are one year younger than Sakura, are you not?" Luvia asked. "And yet, even though you are even younger than she is, you were tasked with overseeing the Heaven's Feel ritual."

"With respect," Caren said. "Is that really a matter for you to question me on?"

"What?"

"While you are two years older than I am," Caren continued. "I can assume that as a member, no, more than that, the _heiress_ of the Edelfelt Clan, you are not unbloodied. Furthermore, Miss Tohsaka here is only a year older than I am, and yet despite her reasoning, it would have been equally reasonable for her to have joined in the Holy Grail War despite her age. The same would go for Mister Emiya and Miss Einzbern."

"A fair point," Luvia admitted. "Though in my case, it's just that my father and the rest of the clan leaders considered my…abilities, sufficient to enter the…family business, as it was, despite my age, and begin filling my portfolio in preparation for…various, expectations of me in the future."

"Ah," Caren said, slowly nodding. "As it is, the same goes for yours truly."

"Oh?"

Caren nodded, though she paused to finish chewing and swallowing before replying. "Just like you," she said. "My abilities were judged by my superiors in the Church hierarchy to be sufficient for the responsibility of overseeing the Holy Grail War."

"I see."

The three young women ate in silence for a long while after that, only resuming to speak when the empty platter of cold meats was removed along with their dirty plates and silverware, the latter replaced with clean ones while bowls of hot, freshly-cooked clam chowder were placed before them. "We've read the final reports on the Holy Grail War," Sakura began while sampling her soup. "How it developed, and how it ended…I don't mean to disparage either your abilities or your superiors' judgment, but it seems things went quite out of control, did they not?"

Caren briefly paused at those words, while Luvia smiled, masking it by taking a drink at the same time. "Admittedly true," Caren said. "However, there were no indications that Zouken Matou would commit such an act of…treachery."

"Yes," Luvia said with a slow nod. "It caught us all by surprise too."

"Regardless," Caren continued. "The matter was ultimately dealt with, though it won't be closed until Zouken Matou has been apprehended and subjected to the judgment of the Church."

"Execution…?"

"Yes," Caren said with a nod. "The Holy Grail War, or Heaven's Feel, or whatever you wish to call it, is the responsibility of the Church to ensure the…proper, reenactment of. Thanks to his actions, we failed in part, and the outcome could have been so much worse. Therefore, it is only meet that he be made to suffer the consequences of his actions, and be made an example of, before others follow in his footsteps in similar matters."

"There is no question on any of that," Luvia said. "That said, there is something of a…conflict, of interest, in this matter."

"Conflict of interest, you say?"

"The Mages Association," Luvia said, swirling the wine in her glass. "As you may know, wishes for Zouken Matou to be brought in for questioning."

"I am aware." Caren said with a nod, pausing to take a couple of spoons of soup. "But, we are not under the Association's authority. That said, we do not wish for conflict to erupt between our two organizations. It would benefit neither of us, and we both have plenty of enemies who would not hesitate to take advantage of such an outcome. Therefore, should the Association manage to bring Zouken Matou into custody…then we will of course accept the Association's verdict on the matter. But until then or otherwise, then we will act as we deem proper."

"I see."

Silence again fell as the women continued to eat, and finishing their soup moved on to the next course. Breaded fish and fried chips followed the clam chowder, and another bottle of white wine was opened. "Overseer Ortensia," Sakura began while slicing into her fish. "If I may ask two questions?"

"I am of course willing to entertain your questions, Miss Tohsaka." Caren said. "Any number in fact."

"Then," Sakura said. "Might I ask if you are…acquainted, well enough to judge the characters of the former Masters?"

"At the risk of sounding presumptuous," Caren said. "I daresay I can to a degree."

"Then," Sakura continued. "Would you be willing to tell us about the characters of Shirou Emiya and Illyasviel von Einzbern?"

"But of course," Caren said with a nod. "What do you wish to know?"

* * *

A/N

There's a certain irony in Sakura's visit to the graveyard, especially considering Tokiomi and Rin would be rolling in their graves considering Valkolumi was behind everything that happened to them both. Okay, Tokiomi dying was _not_ planned by Valkolumi at all, but still…


End file.
